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It made for a pretty long video -- even edited down -- but Bill Clinton's speech last night was not only pretty long but very compelling. His subject was the progressive movement and how it is moving forward with real momentum now -- something, he explained, that really is a product of the reality that America is changing dramatically.

As we become more and more multicultural, he observed, the nation naturally will become more communitarian in how it approaches problems and will increasingly as a result adopt real progressive solutions, while discarding the old fake divisions -- particularly the racial ones -- that have plagued us since our beginnnings. And he offered some thoughts on not only the necessity of keeping that momentum but how we do it.

At one point he was challenged by an audience member who shouted out in protest about Clinton's adoption of the "don't ask don't tell" policy for the military, and Clinton answered sharply and compellingly. It was a reminder of just how strong Clinton can be when dealing with critics.

I'd hoped edit it down to a normal-length video but just couldn't. But the message is well worth the length.

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MSNBC's Chuck Todd notes how Sen. John Cornyn, R-Blood Meridian, decided to play the naysayer to confirming Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State today -- just because he could.

And Kelly O'Donnell then confirms that Clinton and Cornyn had some words in the Rotunda this morning.

The New York Times has the details:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s smooth ride to confirmation as secretary of state hit a small bump on Tuesday as one of her Republican colleagues blocked a vote on Mrs. Clinton’s nomination, citing ethical questions arising from donors to her husband’s charitable foundation.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas objected to including Mrs. Clinton’s name in a unanimous consent vote for several Cabinet nominees, scheduled for hours after the swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, plans to hold a roll-call vote on Mrs. Clinton’s nomination on Wednesday, which she is expected to win easily.

A spokesman for Mr. Cornyn, Kevin McLaughlin, said, “this is not an effort to scuttle or block the nomination, but a legitimate policy difference. Senator Cornyn’s goal is to create transparency on all levels of government.”

Mrs. Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, signed an agreement with the Obama transition team, putting some limits on foreign donations to his foundation, as well as stipulating annual disclosure of new donors.

But Senator Cornyn, in a letter to Mrs. Clinton last Friday, said he remained worried that her diplomatic activities would be compromised “unless tighter foreign fund-raising restrictions and transparency protocols are adopted.”

A spokesman for Mr. Reid, Jim Manley, said, “it only takes one person to object to a vote.” He added, “She’ll be confirmed tomorrow with an overwhelming bipartisan support.”

They're all mouthing the right platitudes now, but it will be only a matter of days before Republicans start digging up even the most picayune of excuses to screw Democrats and play the obstructionists. In fact, it seems to have started already.

In news that surprises exactly no one, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted nearly unanimously in favor of appointing Hillary Clinton to be the next Secretary of State. The only thing left is a full Senate vote, expected to take place shortly after President-elect Obama is sworn in next Tuesday. The lone holdout on the committee to vote against HRC? Diaper David Vitter of Louisiana.

AP (via HuffPo):

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted overwhelmingly on Thursday for Hillary Rodham Clinton to become the next secretary of State, endorsing President-elect Barack Obama's promise to take U.S. foreign policy in a new direction.

The 16-1 committee vote paves the way for a full Senate vote after Obama takes office on Jan. 20. Clinton is not expected to hit any major roadblocks, with Republicans and Democrats alike praising her acumen on the issues.

But concerns about her husband's charitable fundraising overseas remain. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, who was among several Republicans who raised the issue at her confirmation hearing earlier this week, cast the lone opposing vote.

When Christopher Hitchens practically starts foaming at the mouth with Clinton Derangement Syndrome while on the topic of President-elect Obama's national security team, a very calm Joan Walsh takes him to woodshed and appears to get him pretty flustered. Fireworks start around 9:25 in.

Hitchens: "[Choosing Hillary Clinton] still divides us between those who think a job must be found for Hillary Clinton, that the country would somewhat be disgraced if she wasn't in an important position and those of us who could do without her."

Walsh: "But that second group is a very small group. It's a group of eccentric Clinton haters who have made a living out of trashing the Clinton. It's a small group. It's not an important group in American foreign or domestic policy."

Hitchens: "Which group are you talking about?"

Walsh: "The group of people who would rather see Hillary Slinton off the world stage. I don't think Barack Obama was thinking about that at all because that group of people are eccentric, they are devoted to looking at everything the Clintons do in the worst possible light, and hes trying to solve problems."

Awesome.

As Media Matters notes: Why does MSNBC continue to invite on Christopher Hitchens to bash Hillary Clinton?

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Hillary Clinton declined to answer any questions today about the speculation that President-elect Obama is talking to her about being Secretary of State in his Cabinet -- and the denial left little doubt that she is indeed in the running.

Meanwhile, Nico Pitney at HuffPo reports that Obama has offered her the job.

Personally, I'd always suspected he would name Clinton to the Supreme Court with the first opening there, but the fact that Obama is looking to build bridges with former enemies this early says volumes about how he's going to approach governance. Mostly that is a good thing, but there is a built-in downside here too.

  Bill Clinton gave a blistering endorsement of Barack Obama's leadership at a huge rally in Ft. Pierce, Florida today.

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Clinton: We have to elect a President that will rebuild the American dream, repair a badly shattered financial system and restore America's standing in the world. Look at the mess that we have  in our financial  system. This is not accidental folks. It doesn't have to be this way. It matters who the President is, it matters what decisions he makes and it matters what the policies are. Obama's got better answers.  He knows what it will take to get this country back on track.

Obama's answers are better!

Bill Clinton explains the financial crisis and how Obama will be able to grow the economy and lead America back like no other.

Hillary Clinton and many Senate Democrats pounded away at the economic policies of Bush and McCain.

Clinton: What we have seen over the course of the last eight years is an administration that refused to recognize the threats lurking in our economy. No matter what lurked just beneath the surface or what problems were facing middle-class families. Now, we know that many C.E.O.'s are paying lower tax rates than their receptionists. We know that President Bush and those who carry his mantle seek to lower those taxes even further. Middle-class families have seen their wages decline even as the cost of living has skyrocketed. This administration has the worst job creation record in 70 years.

Millions of families were locked into ballooning and unaffordable adjustable-rate loads as this administration stood by denying there was a crisis. Regulators and regulations designed to keep pace with the markets have been steadily chipped away by Washington Republicans even as companies experimented to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in ever more complex and risky financial instruments.

More transcripts below the fold:

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  Hillary Clinton was down in Florida country stumping for Obama. She made the strong case that Obama/Biden need to lead this country. plain and simple.

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Hillary: 'I don't think the choice could be any clearer....

If we want to restore American leadership.  If we want to restore the American standard of living. If we want to tackle the myriad of challenges facing this country---then slightly amend my comments from Denver. No way, no McCain, no Palin!

I was telling Digby that I hope Hillary will step up against Palin. 

Mrs. Clinton's friends said she was galled that Ms. Palin might try to capitalize on a movement that Mrs. Clinton, of New York, built among women in the primaries....Guy Cecil, the former political director of Mrs. Clinton's campaign, said it was "insulting" for Republicans to compare Ms. Palin to Mrs. Clinton.

"It is insulting to compare Hillary's lifetime of service and her commitment to progressive causes with that of a novice, right-wing governor," Mr. Cecil said. 

This should be interesting. 

She hit it out the park, no doubt about it. 

More to come later...

Dave Schuler at Outside The Beltway:

... like us, Russia is quite paranoid. Or, as Woody Allen once quipped, what’s a three syllable word beginning with ‘P’ that means you think that everybody’s against you? Answer: perceptive.

Dave argues that the Bush administration simply went along "fat, dumb, and happy" with the Clinton Administration's policy of making clear to Russia that there had only been one winner of the Cold War and I think there's a lot of truth in that, although the Bush hawks have taken it to a whole new level. But as Clinton-era hawks commenting on the Georgia crisis have reminded us, they don't really believe in compromise and diplomacy. While in domestic politics "It's Clinton's Fault" doesn't hold water 8 years later, in foreign policy, where other nations see "America under successive leaders" while Americans see "the Clinton and Bush administrations", 8 years is just enough time to put a good hoppy head on the home-brew of resentment.

The real problem, however, is that we're in danger of turning that perception into one of "three successive American leaders".

  (Ann Veneman (R) with Darby Rove, wife of Karl Rove)

He is kidding, isn't he?

Obama's vice presidential search team has floated the name of a former member of President Bush's first-term cabinet, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, as Obama's running mate. [...]

The mention of Veneman's name surprised Democratic lawmakers. The low-profile Republican was close to food and agriculture industries but clashed with farm-state Democrats and environmentalists during her tenure, which lasted from 2001 to 2004...read on

Listen, just pick Hillary already and get it over with. If Obama's camp really wants half the Democratic Party to really scream, just pick Veneman. Our VP list is light and the idea that Hagel's name has been floated is repulsive enough, but Veneman? Hagel can help him on the trail and maybe someplace else for sure, but not as VP. Hillary can help Obama win Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. As we saw in the primary, elderly and Latino voters really liked her as well. The media spotlight will be all his for another long period of time while McCain is left to stir up a little publicity with Bobby "what's evolution?" Jindal or the boring wonderbread that is Romney. Maybe it will give him time to produce another video crying to the media that his VP pick wasn't covered as much as Obama's.

Yes, many from the online community don't like this choice, but I want to win the White House. She can stay in those three states alone as far as I'm concerned. I think McCain is up by eight points in one Florida poll and we all know what Florida means.

And if Obama does win the election, the Republicans will try to block every piece of legislation that comes by. Their plan is to then blame Democrats for not fixing all of Bush's screw ups in two years and run on that platform in 2010. He will need a tough VP  to go in there and help move the agenda along. And nobody can repair the damage that the conservatives have done to our country in two years.

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Finally, it's happened. Barack and Bill will talk about the upcoming campaign.

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe assured CNN’s Candy Crowley that former President Bill Clinton and presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama will be discussing Clinton’s role in the campaign within the next two days. I believe that in the next 24 to 48 hours they will talk and off we will go,” McAuliffe stated on Sunday’s Late Edition.

UPDATE: It took place today:

Senator Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton spoke by telephone today, their first conversation since the combative Democratic presidential primary season ended at the beginning of the month. “Senator Obama had a terrific conversation with President Clinton and is honored to have his support in this campaign,” said Bill Burton, a spokesman for Mr. Obama. “He has always believed that Bill Clinton is one of this nation’s great leaders and most brilliant minds, and looks forward to seeing him on the campaign trail and receiving his counsel in the months to come.”

The Clinton hating Villagers will be screaming about this one way or the other. They can't stop talking about Bill and Hillary even when you know Obama wanted the spotlight for himself. I mean, he earned it. He won. It's like they lost their fix or something. I wrote this during the Obama/Hillary NH event on Friday,

When you start hearing the media elites attack Bill Clinton---just turn it off. They need controversy. They don’t want us to come together…

Here's Cafferty's first segment on CNN right after:

And then, of course, there's Bill Clinton. The former president and Barack Obama have not spoken since Obama won the nomination. Wouldn't you think the last sitting Democratic president might want to talk to the party's presumptive nominee?

I think it speaks voluming that there hasn't been a single word exchanged between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama since he wrapped up the nomination.

BLITZER: I suspect that will change probably at some point.

CAFFERTY: It better change pretty soon.

BLITZER: Yes. He's overseas right now, but at some point it will change.

CAFFERTY: Do they have phones there?

BLITZER: Yes, they do.

CAFFERTY: Yes. That's what I thought.

Blitzer knew the score. Here's a memo to the media: Obama won. It's his time and he calls the shots on what happens to the party and who says what and in what time frame. Please, there's plenty of other things to focus on right now. As Obama has said, he wants Bill to help his campaign and he is a huge asset. Yes, it was a heated primary, but we're healing as a party. It doesn't happen over night, but it's happening very, very fast. Too many of these phony right wing strategists (not Cafferty, he's a good guy) go on tevee and in some liberal bloggers comment sections and have been given a free pass to attack, attack, attack.

This morning on Face The Nation, host Bob Schieffer gave props to Hillary Clinton for her speech yesterday. While noting that there were parts of her campaign that weren't pretty, and that she ultimately came up short, there were other victories to be found in her work.

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"...She told her followers that she had not run to be the first woman president, but had been a woman running for president and that the next time a woman runs, it will no longer be so remarkable. As a father of two daughters and three granddaughters, I believe she's right about that. She lost this race, but she has advanced the cause of women everywhere."

There are still lingering frustrations felt by supporters of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as we can see from the comments.  And nobody can argue that there weren't some pretty significant mistakes made by her campaign, but it would be equally dishonest to not acknowledge the historic nature of her running as well, and how she has opened doors (as well as delineated some media land mines) for future campaigns by women.  Clinton's call for unity and rallying behind Obama was exactly the note she needed to hit and she deserves credit for that, as Schieffer points out.

It's important to remember that  John McCain and the Republicans are on the ropes in the general public's estimation and they know it. Hell, McCain is already trying to co-opt Barack Obama's campaign themes, which is a sure sign he's scared to death. Their only hope is to divide the Democratic Party and pray that we fail to unite behind our candidate in the fall.  Let's not fall for their trap.

After a long, grueling primary season, Senator Hillary Clinton called for party unity and vowed to support Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee. In an inspirational speech to supporters in Washington D.C., Clinton called on her supporters to rally behind Obama:

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The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States. [applause] Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

I have served in the Senate with him for four years, I have been in this campaign with him for sixteen months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in twenty-two debates. I’ve had a front row seat to his candidacy and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit. In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American Dream. As a community organizer and State Senate and as a United States Senator, he has dedicated himself to insuring the dream is realized and in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process, and invested in our common future. Now when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House and make sure we have a President who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity and progress. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do by insuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.

This was the speech that she needed to give. Senator Clinton showed class, courageousness, determination and a unshakable commitment to the causes she and the Democratic party believe in -- yes, there were bumps in the road over the last 16 months, but she never gave up and we commend her for sticking to her guns.

UPDATE: Heather has put up the entire speech up on YouTube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.  Full transcripts available here.  MSNBC will rerun the speech in its entirety at 4:00 pm Eastern.

UPDATE II: As a further sign of unity, Hillary Clinton is showing her support for Obama on the front page of her website, and Barack Obama says Thank You to her on his homepage, and wrote this inspiring message to her and her supporters.

We must now be relentless as we move forward, to do everything we can to elect Barack Obama. Visit his campaign website and contribute what you can. If you can't donate money, please donate your time and volunteer.