Clinton, Obama Stage First Joint Rally

UNITY, N.H. — Rivals turned allies, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton made a display of unity today in a hamlet named for it, their first joint public appearance since the divisive Democratic primary race ended.“To anyone who voted for me and is now considering not voting or voting for Senator (John) McCain, I strongly urge you to reconsider,” said Mrs. Clinton, the loser in a marathon Democratic nomination fight, as she implored her supporters to join with Mr. Obama’s “to create an unstoppable force for change we can all believe in.”In turn, Mr. Obama praised both Mrs. Clinton and her husband, President Clinton, as allies and pillars of the Democratic Party. “We need them. We need them badly,” Mr. Obama said. “Not just my campaign, but the American people need their service and their vision and their wisdom in the months and years to come because that’s how we’re going to bring about unity in the Democratic Party. And that’s how we’re going to bring about unity in America.”Moments earlier, the two snaked their way through some 6,000 people who gathered in a wide-open field and overflowed some bleacher seats in this town of 1,700.This was a carefully chosen venue in a key general election battleground state: Unity awarded exactly 107 votes to each candidate in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary in January. Mr. Obama clinched the nomination June 3 and Mrs. Clinton suspended her campaign four days later.Today’s joint appearance capped a turbulent Democratic primary season and tense post-race transition as the two went from foes to friends — at least publicly. This was the most visible event in a series of gestures the two senators have made over the past week to heal the hard feelings — between themselves as well as among their backers. Both were mindful of the need for the entire Democratic Party to swing behind Mr. Obama as he faces Senator McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, in the general election.At a private appearance with Mr. Obama at Washington on yesterday, Mrs. Clinton encouraged her top fundraisers to help Mr. Obama. She went one step further today: Both Clintons, Hillary and Bill, made the maximum $2,300 donation to Mr. Obama’s campaign Friday in an online transaction, aides said.At New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama took the stage together.“Unity is not only a beautiful place as we can see, it’s a wonderful feeling, isn’t it? And I know when we start here in this field in Unity, we’ll end on the steps of the Capitol when Barack Obama takes the oath of office as our next president,” Mrs. Clinton said from a podium as Mr. Obama sat next to her on a stool, coatless with his white shirt sleeves rolled up. She wore a powder blue pantsuit; he wore a light blue tie.Wasting little time pressing Mr. Obama’s case, Mrs. Clinton noted that Mr. McCain and the GOP probably hoped she wouldn’t join forces with Mr. Obama.“But I’ve got news for them: We are one party; we are one America, and we are not going to rest until we take back our country and put it once again on the path to peace, prosperity and progress in the 21st century,” Mrs. Clinton said to cheers.Echoing Mr. Obama’s pitch, Mrs. Clinton said Mr. McCain offered nothing more than a continuation of President Bush’s policies.“In the end, Senator McCain and President Bush are like two sides of the same coin, and it doesn’t amount to a whole lot of change,” Mrs. Clinton said. “If you think we need a new course, a new agenda, then vote for Barack Obama and you will get the change that you need and deserve.”Mr. Obama heaped praise on Mrs. Clinton when it was his turn to speak.“For 16 months, Sen. Clinton and I have shared the stage as rivals for the nomination, but today I could not be happier and more honored and more moved that we’re sharing this stage as allies to bring about the fundamental changes that this country so desperately needs,” Mr. Obama said. “Hillary and I may have started with separate goals in this campaign, but we made history together.”Mr. Obama is seeking to become the country’s first black president; Mrs. Clinton had sought to become the first woman to win the White House.“I’ve admired her as a leader, I’ve learned from her as a candidate. She rocks. She rocks. That’s the point I’m trying to make,” Mr. Obama added, responding to cheers from the crowd. “I know firsthand how good she is, how tough she is, how passionate she is, how committed she is the causes that brought all of us here today.”Each needs the other now.Mr. Obama needed the former first lady to give her voters and donors a clear signal that she doesn’t consider it a betrayal for them to shift their loyalty his way; she did that this week. Mrs. Clinton won convincingly among several voter groups during the primaries, including working class voters and older women — groups that Mr. McCain has actively courted since she left the race.Mrs. Clinton, for her part, needs the Illinois senator’s help in paying down $10 million of her campaign debt, and Mr. Obama has asked his supporters to help retire her debt. And she certainly doesn’t want Mr. Obama to lose and have some of his supporters blame her.She also wants assurance she will be treated respectfully as a top surrogate on the campaign trail and at the Democratic convention later this summer. Some of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters want her name placed in nomination for a roll call vote at the Denver convention, an effort she hasn’t formally discouraged.Campaigning at Youngstown, Ohio, Mr. McCain told reporters he understood the Democrats’ effort to unite, but he also believes he is making inroads in attracting disgruntled Democrats. He noted a woman at a town-hall style meeting yesterday at Cincinnati who wore a “Hillary” hat as she asked him a question.“Obviously, I have to get Republican votes, independent votes and the old and new Reagan Democrats,” Mr. McCain said today after touring a General Motors car factory at Lordstown, Ohio.

Clinton, Obama Stage First Joint Rally

Clinton, Obama Stage First Joint Rally

More from the New York Sun

Zelensky Now Has a Card To Play With Trump: Diesel

Missouri Republican Redistricting Likely Headed Back to Supreme Court After Circuit Court Greenlights New Map

UN’s Francesca Albanese Tells the West To Stop Arming Ukraine and Blames NATO For the War

Hochul Pardons an Immigrant Felon in Effort To Spite Trump’s Push To Control Border

Democrats Eye Impeachment of Trump If They Prevail in Midterms, Yet President Holds a Profusion of Wild Cards

Wynton Marsalis’s Homecoming Farewell

Trump, at Joint Press Conference with Mamdani, Expresses Optimism That Mayor Will Be a ‘Great One’

A Raid on the Presidency

More from the New York Sun

Zelensky Now Has a Card To Play With Trump: Diesel

Missouri Republican Redistricting Likely Headed Back to Supreme Court After Circuit Court Greenlights New Map

UN’s Francesca Albanese Tells the West To Stop Arming Ukraine and Blames NATO For the War

Hochul Pardons an Immigrant Felon in Effort To Spite Trump’s Push To Control Border

Democrats Eye Impeachment of Trump If They Prevail in Midterms, Yet President Holds a Profusion of Wild Cards

Wynton Marsalis’s Homecoming Farewell

Trump, at Joint Press Conference with Mamdani, Expresses Optimism That Mayor Will Be a ‘Great One’

A Raid on the Presidency