You don’t see too much of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama around the Senate these days. The rigors of the campaign trail hardly leave time for, say, voting on actual bills. But Tuesday both Democratic hopefuls dropped in on the Senate to cast votes on a pair of amendments tinkering with sky-high oil prices.

The two arrived through the same door, but made sure to roll up about five minutes apart. Clinton was, of course, likely to be peppered with questions about when she might drop out of the race. No chance of that question sullying her Senate visit, though.

Clinton had her cell phone up to her ear during her entire walk with reporters. Only the senator knows if her entreaties to “write the right language and the right approach” were to an actual person on the other end of the phone, or whether she was using the well-known politician’s feint of the apparently urgent cell phone call to avoid answering questions.

Obama, meanwhile, shook hands and greeted several well-wishers when he showed up. “I gotta vote,” he said.

Asked if he would be lobbying any undecided Senate superdelegates over to his side, Obama only repeated what he said the week before when he descended on the House floor to get mobbed by members during a vote. Obama would only, he said, be saying “hello”.

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The New York Times captures CNC reporter Todd Zwillich interviewing Senators Obama and Clinton (above) in the corridors of Congress.