Obama and Bill Clinton finally get a chance to gab

Bill Clinton and Barack Obama broke the ice on Monday, but both men left it to their spokesmen to characterize their 20-minute chat.

“Terrific,” the likely Democratic nominee’s aide called it.

“Very good,” said the former president’s spokesman.

The two Democratic heavyweights spoke on the phone Monday while Obama rode from Kansas City, Mo., to Independence -- their first conversation since Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her exit from the race three weeks ago.

While the New York senator has appeared with Obama since then, her husband has been conspicuously absent. He did not appear at a rally she co-hosted with Obama in Unity, N.H.

Bill Clinton’s reticence was widely seen as an sign that he still had hard feelings toward Obama. The two were often at odds during the primary. Bill Clinton downplayed Obama’s South Carolina victory, noting that Jesse Jackson had also won the state. When he was criticized, he said Obama’s campaign had “played the race card on me” and had “planned to do it all along.”

Aides to the politicians released brief statements Monday, both rich with praise.

“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,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

And from Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna: “President Clinton continues to be impressed by Sen. Obama and the campaign he has run, and looks forward to campaigning for and with him in the months to come.”

-- Kate Linthicum