The North Korea Effect: Democrats Are One Big Happy Family

Contrary to reports from North Korea's state news agency, the White House says Bill Clinton did not apologize during his successful pursuit of pardons for Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. There were no apologies in this country, either, but the release and homecoming of the two women seems to have washed away some bad blood among Democrats.

We may never know exactly what transpired between the former president and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, or for that matter between Clinton and the Obama administration, or Clinton and his former vice president, Al Gore, the co-founder of Current TV. What we do know is that Democrats are one big happy family for the moment.

President Obama was fulsome Wednesday in his praise of Clinton, whose pugnacious campaigning last year for his wife and against Obama appears to be filed away somewhere between forgive and forget. The two men talked Wednesday morning and "I know they hope to get together sometime soon," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters as they traveled to Indiana.

Gore, whom Obama said worked "tirelessly" for the two women's release, called Clinton and asked for his help after learning that the North Koreans were willing to deal if Clinton personally showed up. He gave Clinton a bear hug when he stepped off the plane Wednesday in Burbank, Calif., and offered "a special thanks to President Bill Clinton, my partner and friend. So grateful."

The pair haven't always been so close. Gore tried to divorce himself from Clinton during his 2000 White House run, talking of time and accomplishments lost to scandal and even noting in his announcement speech that adults have to be role models for youth. But that was then.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was U.N. ambassador and energy secretary in Clinton's Cabinet, but the two men were on the outs after Richardson endorsed Obama over Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential nomination race. In the last 24 hours, Richardson has praised Clinton in so many TV appearances that I lost count. One typical instance: On NBC Wednesday morning, he called Clinton "a man of immense stature" whose visit has dramatically reduced tensions with North Korea and could lead to talks on denuclearization.

Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have repeatedly stressed that Bill Clinton's visit was a private humanitarian mission that did not change the choice facing North Korea. "They can continue on the path they are on, or perhaps they will now be willing to start talking to us within the context of the six-party talks about the international desire to see them denuclearized," the secretary of state said on MSNBC.

In a background briefing Tuesday night, a senior administration official made clear that international issues were discussed. The official said Clinton and his team met with Kim Jong-Il for an hour and 15 minutes, and then had a two-hour dinner. The principal issue discussed was the release of the journalists.

"I'm sure President Clinton gave President Kim his views on denuclearization," the official said and added: "He also discussed and we know pressed very hard . . . on the positive things that could flow from the release of the South Korean detainees and entering into talks and to really -- seeking the release of Japanese abductees. So I can tell you with confidence that both those issues were raised."

My Politics Daily colleague Lynn Sweet has posted the entire briefing at her Chicago Sun-Times blog. Among the highlights: The role of the Swedish ambassador (who served as a go-between for medicine and messages), how word reached Gore that the North Koreans wanted a Clinton visit (the two women told their families in phone calls) and how the Obama administration went about setting conditions and getting guarantees on the results.

One reporter asked the briefer to "clear up whether there was an apology or sign of contrition from former President Clinton toward the North Koreans," as the official media there reported. "The answer is no," the official replied.