Posted: Saturday, June 07, 2008 2:46 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: 2008, Clinton, Obama
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
Four days after the primaries ended, and 504 days after she entered the race, Hillary Clinton said the magic words Democrats have been waiting for all week: “I endorse him and throw my full support behind” Barack Obama.
“When I started this race, I intended to win back the White House and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity and progress,” she said. “And that's exactly what we're going to do, by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.”
The central point of Clinton's speech was to urge her supporters (and 18 million voters, by her count) to put aside any disappointment and support the nominee of the party. “We may have started on separate journeys, but today our paths have merged,” she said. “And we're all heading toward the same destination, united and more ready than ever to win in November and to turn our country around, because so much is at stake.”
After choosing not to acknowledge the milestone Obama reached on Tuesday, Clinton also noted the historic achievement of an African American being nominated by a major party. But she also continued emphasizing her own place in history.
moreHillary Rodham Clinton
By Anne E. Kornblut
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the most successful female presidential candidate in U.S. history, officially left the race on Saturday with a forceful promise to help elect Sen. Barack Obama -- and a powerful declaration that, even in defeat, a gender barrier had been crossed.
Four days after Obama secured the delegates to win the Democratic nomination, Clinton gave him her unqualified endorsement, finally putting to rest questions about whether she would help unite the party for the general election. In generous and at times soaring terms, Clinton described her cause as united with Obama's, saying that only electing him would achieve the goals of universal health care, a strong economy and the end of the war in Iraq.
"We may have started on separate journeys, but today our paths have merged," Clinton said. She discouraged rehashing the long and divisive Democratic primary campaign, instead asking her supporters -- some of whom, still resentful, booed when she mentioned her former rival during the speech -- to "take our energy, our passion, our strength and to do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States."
"When you hear people saying, or think to yourself, 'if only' or 'what if,' I say -- please don't go there," Clinton said. "Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward."
more07.06.2008
As Hillary Clinton's farewell event wound down here at the National Building Museum in Washington, she and Bill worked one last rope line, to one last blare of inanely upbeat pop music: "There's only one place left I wanna go... Who says you can't go back/who says you can't go home?" Hillary's die-hard backers were out in force: Sid Blumenthal, Lanny Davis, and Terry McAuliffe (who, long after the event was over, was still spinning away for French TV); plus a female-dominated crowd where you might see a middle-aged woman carrying a Joan Didion book, or a another in a stark black-and-white T-shirt reading "THIS IS WHAT A FEMINIST LOOKS LIKE."
Hillary's speech was the gracious, unequivocal endorsement that Obama supporters have been waiting for. Yes, the hard feelings still linger: Hearty boos pierced the cheers at her every mention of Obama's name. Another t-shirt in the crowd advised people to "vote present" in November, reviving an old Clinton dig at Obama. But Clinton wasn't channelling that energy today. Her speech seemed to strike the right notes, both for Democrats and for her own reputation. She devoted ample time to the larger Democratic cause, the importance of winning back the White House, and, above all, the need to rally behind the party's new nominee. (And in reminder that the Clinton project did not begin--nor will it end--with this campaign she also took care to nod to her husband's two terms as president.)
The one surprise to my ears was Hillary's feminist tone. "I am a woman," she noted, "and like millions of women I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that embraces and respects the potential of every last one of us." Back when she was trying to convince voters she was "strong" enough to be president, she preferred to leave her gender implicit. Those days are long past. Hillary began the campaign trying to assert her strength pre-emptively, declaring that she was tough enough to be president. In the campaign's second half, Hillary defined her strength as a determination not to quit, to fight through adversity, and, yes, to face down the torrent of alleged sexism thrown her way. (Somewhat confusingly, she also said, "Could a woman really serve as commander in chief? Well, I think we answered that one." Did we?) But every politician needs a base. Hers often seemed built largely on a carefully-cultivated Washington-insider machine. Now she is woman, and we can hear her roar.
Barack Obama wasn't here today--as Hillary spoke, he enjoyed a well-earned round of golf. But the two will soon be onstage together, smiling like nothing every happened. Bitter feelings die hard, though, and it's hard to imagine that Hillary and Obama will ever be true and trusting allies. Now comes the gamesmanship over his vice presidential choice, questions about her convention role, her $30 million campaign debt--and the fact that, in the most raw political calculus, Obama's failure in November or in the White House would be a vindication for Hillary.
So despite the warm words, today was probably not the end of the Clinton-Obama drama. It was just the beginning of a new chapter. Near the end of her speech, Hillary elegaically noted that "If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House." It's an admirable, and undoubtedly true, sentiment. Still, you can't help but wonder there's a 51st woman whom Obama might like to blast into space. For a few years, at least.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton formally ended her presidential campaign Saturday, saying to a packed house of thousands of supporters, "I will continue to stand strong with you every time, every place and every way that I can."
She urged the cheering crowd to support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, presumptive Democratic nominee, in his bid for the White House, saying she and supporters 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 crowd at the National Building Museum in Washington.
<...>
Obama watched Clinton's speech over the Internet on a computer, a campaign aide said. He put in a call to Clinton afterward, but was told by a Clinton assistant that she was speaking with supporters.
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