At Clinton's Final Rally, The Scene Is More Bitter Than Sweet

Bettyjean Kling is tough, she's mad and she's about ready to kick some pasty MSNBC butt.

"Chris Matthews, I can't even look at him anymore," Kling spat as she waited for Hillary Clinton to take the stage. "What's the name of that other nut?"

"Keith Olbermann," offered a friend.

"Keith Obama-man," growled Kling, a retired special ed teacher from Shippensburg, Pa.

Hillary Clinton's campaign valedictory was "the very definition of bittersweet," said Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., a longtime Clinton supporter, who insisted that the greater goal of a Democratic White House would unite those who gathered on a steamy day in the cavernous main hall of the National Building Museum.

It seemed to be more bitter than sweet for many, however, with special acid reserved for the media. Several of the hundreds gathered here said they thought that unfair news coverage helped Illinois Sen. Barack Obama win the Democratic presidential nomination. Other common culprits were the Democratic National Committee and the party superdelegates, who helped swing the nomination to Obama in the last few weeks.

"I'm mad at everybody," said Darla Stone, a prison nurse from Locust Grove, Va.

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