NEW YORK--"Signed, sealed and delivered"? Not quite.

Wrapping up a 25-minute speech last night before an audience of 1,000 loyal Big Apple donors at the Grand Hyatt Hotel--a speech in which he praised former rival and local favorite Sen. Hillary Clinton as an "extraordinary," "tough" woman who "wore [him] out"--Barack Obama appeared to think his work was done. After all, he'd finished his signature remarks, delivered his signature sign-off ("We will change the world!") and slipped offstage to the sound of his signature exit song (the aforementioned Stevie Wonder soul classic). He was mistaken--which is why, a moment after it began, the music screeched to a halt and the candidate reappeared at the mic. “Hold on a second guys," he said as the crowd filed out. "I was getting all carried away. I’ve got one more thing that is important.“

Obama, it seems, had completely forgotten to mention the main reason for the soiree, which he was supposed to do, according to aides, right after he lavished praise on the former first lady--that is, helping Hillary pay off some of the $23 million debt she racked up during the Democratic primaries. "Senator Clinton still has some debt," he said, asking his supporters to contribute in the name of party unity. "And I could have had some debt if I hadn’t won, so I know the drill.” Aha. So that's why there were "Hillary Clinton for President: 2008 Primary Election Debt Retirement" forms under every single seat. Go figure.

Obama's forgetfulness was, of course, unfortunate. What it actually exposed--a subconscious resentment? a disinterested passivity? absolutely nothing?--is ultimately unknowable. But that didn't stop the political press from seizing on the slip as a reflection of the larger (and largely irrelevant) "Democratic conflict" it loves hyperventilating over--and obscuring the actual story of Obama's swing through New York. When the Illinois senator initially left the stage, reporters swarmed his aides to ask why he hadn't raised the issue of debt relief; when he finally returned, I watched one furiously revise her dispatch by BlackBerry. "Forget everything you said tonight," she whispered to herself, smiling as her thumbs thumbed away. "The only interesting thing is what you forgot to say." The result? A flurry of overheated stories with headlines like "Obama Almost Forgets Clinton" that quote ordinary Obamans saying they're "unlikely to send [Clinton] a check" and Clintonites like James Carville calling these holdouts "children" and  "amateurs" who are "playing with matches." In New York, Obama's "afterthought" led the news.

There are two problems with reports that cast any lingering antipathy between Team Obama and Team Clinton as the stuff of some sort of operatic drama. First, even without the "Nobamas" of the world on his side--I counted grand total of two members of the much-hyped PUMA group (Party Unity, My Ass!) outside last night's Hyatt event--Obama has enough money and enough Democratic support to keep John McCain choking on his dust (or at least five points behind) for the foreseeable future. (Even if he didn't, Clinton couldn't afford to look like she's anything less than completely committed, lest she be seen as undermining his campaign.) Second, the most interesting thing about Obama's Manhattan visit wasn't old conflicts with Clinton. It was how well their new partnership is actually working.

After leaving the Hyatt last night, Obama joined the New York senator for an even ritzier fundraiser--chocolates, martinis, votive candles--that had been moved from the Park Avenue apartment of Barbaralee Diamonstein and Carl Spielvogel to the Loews Regency to accommodate unexpected demand. Clinton kissed Obama on the cheek. Obama told the crowd that "with just half a wing, this bird can’t fly." And, at $33,100 a plate, the pair raised a stunning $4.1 million for the campaign and the DNC. This morning, they reunited for a woman-centric funder at the Hilton Towers hotel--price tag: between $250 and $2,300, with hosts raising as much as $23,000 apiece--where a loose, lighthearted Clinton called their partnership "one of those Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire things" and delivered her most enthusiastic endorsement yet. "I understand how challenging it is to turn on a dime, to say, 'Okay, close that chapter,'" Clinton said. "But anyone who voted for me has so much in common with those who voted for Barack. And it is critical that we join forces." Obama, meanwhile, warned that McCain's Supreme court picks would undermine equal-pay and pro-choice efforts. By the time he left the city around 10:00 a.m., Obama (with Clinton's assistance) had expanded his war chest by $8 million to $15 million--in less than 16 hours.

When veep vetter Caroline Kennedy joined Obama and Clinton on their flight yesterday from Washington, D.C. to New York, the chattering classes immediately began chattering (yet again) about a "dream ticket." Neither Clinton nor Obama addressed the matter directly during their time in town, but the final line of Obama's speech this morning--which wasn't, for the record, included in his prepared text--certainly raised some eyebrows. "We will change the country and change the world," he said to hearty applause. "And you will give Sen. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama a chance to transform America once again." A veepstakes hint? Who knows. But at the very least it suggests that the Obama-Clinton partnership is only beginning--and that her help last night and this morning is one thing the nominee won't soon forget.