Don't Tell Mama, Clinton-ites For Obama

Feb. 6, 2008— -- New York, NY -- Down a dark and foggy street, up a creaky, narrow flight of stairs, one might think they were entering an illegal Chinatown poker game or an after hours Brooklyn rave.

Instead, behind the nondescript apartment door in a charming uptown brownstone, sits a small, low-key group of professional twenty and thirty-somethings munching on pizza and sipping white wine. Far from running a secret brothel, they are having a quiet night at home, indulging in the political junkie's equivalent of must-see TV -- the Obama Clinton one on one debate Thursday night.

Between long-winded answers and uncharacteristically chummy rejoinders, the group yells out humorous jabs at the screen. One guest channels his inner Hillary-as-Tracy-Flick, mocking the Senator's annoyance at facing such a huge challenge to her candidacy: "Don't push me, Wolf. This is just a formality. It's my White House, damn it! I am the President!" Another shrieks "Ask her about Wal-Mart!"

It seems like your average group of politically interested friends. So why the cloak and dagger antics?

Because this isn't your typical clatch of concerned citizens. They all used to work for the Clintons in various junior and middle level roles. They are all currently supporting Obama. And they are all scared to death someone will find out.

"The fact is is that the political arena for staffers is a business, and you have your own interests to protect," says P., who hosted the event.

Career Planning

None of the attendees allowed ABC News to quote them by name for fear of damaging their relationships with the Clinton campaign. They also wished to leave the possibility open that they may want to work for the Clintons again down the road.

"If you want a job, if you want to build a career in this business, you don't want to piss the Clintons off because of the nature of the way they work," P. said.

Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson rejects these fears entirely.

"The Democratic party is one family. Right now we are in a vigorous primary. We will be united to take on John McCain in the Fall," Wolfson told ABCNews.

The Clinton team is reputed to put a premium on loyalty, typified by the "Hillaryland" staffers who started with the former First Lady back in the early 1990s, and many of whom are currently running her campaign. Not one of this inner circle has left the team to write a tell-all memoir, a devotion rarely seen in the political arena.