UNITY, N.H. — Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton sought Friday to turn the page on their bitter, history-making fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, declaring the next chapter is about beating Republican John McCain.
Choosing a small New Hampshire community aptly named Unity for their first joint appearance since the campaign ended, Obama and Clinton stood on a platform before thousands of cheering, shouting supporters and took turns praising each other and urging party solidarity. She called the nominee-in-waiting a standup guy and he declared: “She rocks. She rocks.”
They came together in this hamlet where each won 107 votes in January’s primary. Body language rivaled campaign rhetoric as attention-getter of the day. And a pair rendered distant by a marathon campaign acted like teammates, alternately exhorting the rank-and-file to put any recriminations behind them.
Clinton noted that they had stood “toe-to-toe” against each other in a primary season fight that began almost two years ago and declared the time has come to “stand shoulder-to-shoulder” against the GOP. They seemed equally determined to regain a White House that their party hasn’t seen since her husband, President Clinton, left at the start of 2001.
“To anyone who voted for me and is now considering not voting or voting for Sen. (John) McCain, I strongly urge you to reconsider,” said Clinton, beseeching her supporters to join with Obama’s “to create an unstoppable force for change we can all believe in.”
In turn, Obama praised both Clinton and her husband as allies and pillars of the Democratic Party.
“We need them. We need them badly,” 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.”
Obama seeks to become the country’s first black president; Clinton had sought to become the first woman to win the White House.
The reunification of these campaign rivals wasn’t without its awkward moments.
Despite the praise and smiles between the two, some in the crowd still sensed a space between them. Their embraces were slightly awkward, and Clinton stood with her hands clasped formally in front of her as Obama spoke.
Friday’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.
Wasting little time pressing Obama’s case, Clinton noted that McCain and the GOP probably hoped she wouldn’t join forces with 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,” Clinton said to cheers.
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