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June 07, 2008

Clinton Endorses Obama, Calls for Unity

Rick Moran
In a speech before several thousand cheering supporters, Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign for the presidency and endorsed Barack Obama for president:

She urged the cheering crowd to support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, presumptive Democratic nominee, in his bid for the White House, saying they should "take our energy, our passion and our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama ... I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me."

Her endorsement was met with a scattering of boos and thumbs downs from the large crowd at the National Building Museum in Washington.

Clinton's campaign tells CNN that 6,000 people signed up on the New York senator's Web site to attend the speech.

She also encouraged party unity, acknowledging that the fight has been hard, but "the Democratic Party is a family, and now it's time to restore the ties that bind us together."

Earlier, she said "this isn't exactly the party I planned, but I surely like the company and I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you."

It wasn't one of her better speeches but it seemed to satisfy the throngs of supporters who showed up to end her bid for the presidency. There was something curiously empty when she asked for her supporters to get behind Obama. And she almost cringed when she led her supporters in a "Yes we can" cheer.

It is understandable that Hillary Clinton seemed a little stunned at times when giving her speech. It had little of the passion she showed in speeches following her victories. It was a rather pedestrian effort that signalled that she would give lip service to unity but that the wounds of the campaign were too recent to bury so quickly.

She is doubtless aware that Obama will not pick her as a running mate unless she forces the issue. Watching her speak today it didn't look like she had the stomach for that kind of fight that, in the end, would probably fail anyway.

Don't write Clinton's political obituary yet. She will be a factor in national politics for years to come. Will she run for president again? I think there's no doubt she'd like to. But given how things will probably change over the next 4 or 8 years, it is doubtful she will ever get as close to the prize as she did this time.



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