Clinton opens her home...

to woo unaligned lawmakers.

(Hmmm. I wonder if she took the muslin off the windows? )

Having mastered the art of town-hall meetings on the campaign trail, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is now holding them in a more comfortable setting: her living room.

On Wednesday night, the Democratic presidential candidate held a private reception for several dozen members of Congress at her house on Whitehaven Street in Kalorama. Most of the guests were confirmed supporters, many from New York and Arkansas, making it something of a friends-and-family event.

But the real mission of the evening was to court lawmakers -- who are also superdelegates in the party's nominating process -- especially those from some of the biggest states. And at least one, Rep. Jason Altmire (Pa.), used the session to pose the kinds of questions voters usually aim at him rather than treating it as a polite political cocktail party.

Officially undecided on which candidate to back, Altmire said he asked Clinton what she expects superdelegates to do if Sen. Barack Obama winds up winning the popular vote and more state delegates. As of last night, Obama had 1,602 overall delegates to Clinton's 1,497, according to an Associated Press tally. A total of 2,025 delegates are needed to secure the nomination.

Clinton replied that superdelegates exist for a reason and should use their own judgment about which candidate would be best in the general election.

Especially if they didn't want to end up in Ft. Marcy Park.


And here is the rest of it.