Inside the Beltway

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By John McCaslin

Unity, by golly

If it didn't sink in during Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's endorsement of his candidacy this past weekend, it surely must now that the elected officers of the Democratic National Committee - vice chairs Lottie Shackelford, Linda Chavez Thompson, Rep. Mike Honda, Susan W. Turnbull, secretary Alice Germond, treasurer Andrew Tobias and finance chair Philip Murphy - have together officially endorsed Sen. Barack Obama to be the next commander in chief.

"Now that this historic primary season is over," reads a joint statement from the DNC officers, "we proudly offer our enthusiastic endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States."

As for Mrs. Clinton?

"We also congratulate Senator Hillary Clinton on her extraordinary run for the presidency; the incredible amount of work she and her supporters poured into her campaign has left the Democratic Party stronger than ever."

Sign of times

We have to laugh at the disclaimer on a written invitation to a happy hour received Wednesday from one well-known Washington lobbyist: "This event is carbon neutral. No tomatoes will be served at this event."

Georgetown ghosts

We ducked into a crowded Martin's Tavern in Georgetown Tuesday night to escape the severe thunderstorm that raked the nation's capital with sharp lightning and torrential rain.

Sipping pints of beer at the bar were several groups of tourists pointing to the occupied wooden booths that overlook Wisconsin Avenue and N Street NW. Instead of seeing patrons dining there, they saw ghosts.