Will Media Report Bill Clinton's Lingering Anger Towards Obama?

While media gushed over Hill and Barack's kiss and make-up ceremony in Unity, New Hampshire, Friday, a larger story was lurking in the shadows without getting much attention: Bill Clinton is still very angry at the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee, and he's not close to calling a ceasefire.

In fact, according to the British Telegraph, the former President is still on a war footing (picture courtesy AP).

With press members itching for a united Democrat party, it will be interesting to see how much attention this gets in the next few days, especially the juicy parts (h/t Hot Air, slight vulgarity alert):

The Telegraph has learned that the former president's rage is still so great that even loyal allies are shocked by his patronising attitude to Mr Obama, and believe that he risks damaging his own reputation by his intransigence.

A senior Democrat who worked for Mr Clinton has revealed that he recently told friends Mr Obama could "kiss my ass" in return for his support.

Well, at least the former President didn't call Obama a sleazy, slimy scumbag. But I digress:

It has long been known that Mr Clinton is angry at the way his own reputation was tarnished during the primary battle when several of his comments were interpreted as racist.

But his lingering fury has shocked his friends. The Democrat told the Telegraph: "He's been angry for a while. But everyone thought he would get over it. He hasn't. I've spoken to a couple of people who he's been in contact with and he is mad as hell." [...]

Another Democrat said that despite polls showing Mr Obama with a healthy lead over Republican John McCain, Mr Clinton doesn't think he can win.

The party strategist, who was allied to one of the early rivals to Mr Obama and the former First Lady, said Mr Clinton was "very unhopeful" about the nominee's prospects in November.

"Bill Clinton knows the party will unite behind Obama, but he is telling people he doesn't believe Obama can win round voting groups, especially working-class whites, in the swing states," the strategist said.

Interesting that this comes from a British newspaper, isn't it? Closer to home, the Huffington Post's Thomas B. Edsell, in an article entitled "It's My Party, I'll Cry If I Want To" concurred with the Telegraph (emphasis added):

The former president and Obama have not talked, and, by all accounts, the man of the Clinton household remains hurt and resentful. Associates provide a variety of explanations for the Bill Clinton dilemma, none of them mutually exclusive.

Some say Bill Clinton not only wants Obama to reach out to him, but to also promise to lift the cloud of alleged racism -- an accusation that continues to eat at the man once dubbed the nation's "first black president." Clinton, these folks suggest, wants Obama to publicly exonerate him of the charge that he played the race card in the primaries. [...]

"He is still bruised from the trail, really hurt about the racist charges leveled against him, and convinced the Obama campaign fomented it," said another source familiar with the former president's attitude. "What he would really like is for Obama to apologize, but on one level he knows that is never going to happen," a third source said.

Once again, with media trying desperately to unite their Party, how much attention is this going to get?

On a related note, according to UPI, the former President didn't speak to Oprah Winfrey at Thursday night's birthday party for Nelson Mandela (emphasis added):

Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton didn't seem like they were on good terms at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday in London, a source told the New York Daily News.

Winfrey has spent the last several months campaigning for presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., whose chief competition was Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

Both Winfrey and former U.S. President Bill Clinton attended a dinner in Hyde Park, catered by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, in honor of former South African President Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday.

"There was a very cold reception between them," a source told the Daily News.

I bet we'll be hearing a lot about this as well.