Clinton's
motorcade — she receives Secret
Service protection as a former first
lady — was seen leaving the office
complex shortly before Obama left
for the day.
Clinton's
office told NBC News Thursday
that any decisions about the
presidential transition are up to
Obama and his team. Clinton
spokesman Philippe Reines, on
Friday, would say only "Senator
Clinton had no public schedule
yesterday," and referred questions
to the Obama transition team, which
said it had no comment.
Clinton pushed Obama hard during the
campaign, and was rumored to be a
possible pick for vice-president
after she lost the nomination to the
young Illinois senator. Obama
instead chose veteran Sen. Joe Biden
as his running mate, prompting
speculation that, among other
reasons, he didn't want to be
saddled with Clinton's restless
husband, former President Bill
Clinton.
Bill Clinton was cool toward Obama
following the bruising nomination
battle between Obama and his wife.
However, any lingering animosity was
put aside when both Clintons gave
rousing endorsements of Obama at the
Democratic National Convention in
August, and later campaigned for
him.
Since then, Obama has surrounded
himself with several former staffers
of Bill Clinton's presidency. Some
of them are pushing Hillary Clinton
as secretary of state. Other
senators, including Democrat John
Kerry of Massachusetts and
Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska,
also are thought to be under
consideration.
The two Democratic officials who
spoke Thursday did so on the
condition of anonymity to avoid
angering Obama and his staff.
In his first two weeks as
president-elect, Obama has struck a
bipartisan tone. He paired a
Republican and a Democrat to meet
with foreign leaders this weekend on
his behalf in Washington, for
example, and on Friday his
transition office announced Obama
would meet with vanquished
Republican rival John McCain on
Monday.
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The meeting will be the first since
Obama, the Democratic Illinois
senator, beat McCain, an Arizona
senator, by an Electoral College
landslide in the Nov. 4 election.
"It's well known that they share an
important belief that Americans want
and deserve a more effective and
efficient government, and will
discuss ways to work together to
make that a reality," Obama
spokesman Stephanie Cutter said in
announcing the meeting.
Cutter also said the two will be
joined at Obama's Chicago transition
office by Republican Sen. Lindsey
Graham of South Carolina, a McCain
confidant, and Rep. Rahm Emanuel,
the Illinois Democrat whom Obama has
chosen to be his White House chief
of staff.
NBC News' Andrea Mitchell and
The Associated Press contributed
to this report
