A mulligan in golf is when you are unhappy with your first drive and you take a second with no penalty.

And so Hillary Clinton took a mulligan on her first run for the Democratic nomination for President and suspended her campaign today in Washington DC and endorsed Barack Obama for President, who by the way, was playing golf in Chicago.

What this means is that she is holding on to her delegates, by suspending her campaign, which allows her to influence platforms at the Democratic Convention, puts her in position for the VP slot, and allows her to raise more funds for a campaign which is $30 million in debt, including $11 million of the Clinton’s own money.

The use of the word suspending also helps her exercise her mulligan and should for some bizarre reason Obama does not accept the nomination, Hillary’s nomination is still in play.

There was a certain rudeness and arrogance to the 45 minute late arrival of the Clinton’s at the National Building Museum where she suspended her campaign while throngs of supporters waited for her.

“Well,” she said in her opening remarks, “this is not the party I planned, but I sure like the company.”

She noted, “18 million of you from all walks of life have stood with me.”

She said to a packed audience of supporters with her mother, Bill and Chelsea standing by, “You will always find me on the front lines of democracy fighting for the future.”

Hillary checked off all the appropriate endorsing boxes for Obama saying “We will do all we can to elect Obama the next President of the United States.”

She said, “As I suspend my campaign I congratulate Barack Obama and I endorse him and throw my full support behind him.”

While endorsing Obama, she spent more time lauding her accomplishments in running her campaign. There was neither reference to McCain nor any reference to the difference between him and Obama.