Once again Obama out-Clintons the Clintons. John Kerry’s obvious snubbing of former running mate John Edwards is nothing compared to the frustration Hillary feels at having lost out on the Kerry endorsement. At Time.com Karen Tumulty reports: “a source close to Kerry tells me that the person who had been working hardest to get [Kerry’s endorsement] was Hillary Clinton–to the point where her husband had personally lobbied Kerry’s brother Cam and his former brother-in-law David Thorne.”

Tumulty explains that Kerry isn’t terribly fond of the Clintons, as they were pretty tepid in their support of him in 2004. The truth is, not many people have rubbed up against Bill and Hillary and walked away feeling particularly good about it; whereas most Democrats will stand in line to bask in Obama’s reflective glow. The unseemly after-effect of the personal Clinton encounter can be thought of as the flipside to the public Clinton cult—and it’s a campaign liability. It seems a lot of top Dems are waiting on the sidelines hoping to avoid a pro-Clinton stance. We haven’t heard much from Ted Kennedy, for example. And David Roberts at the environmental blog Gristmill suspects that, if it comes down to it, Gore would declare himself an Obama man.

There were a great many people persuaded by Hillary’s tears. She can’t expect many of her former associates to be among them.