Clinton Delivers Emphatic Plea for Unity

DENVER  — With her husband looking on admiringly and her supporters watching with tears in their eyes, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton deferred her own dreams on Tuesday night and delivered an emphatic plea at the Democratic National Convention to unite behind her rival, Senator Barack Obama, no matter what ill will lingers. Mrs. Clinton, who was once once so certain that she would win the Democratic nomination this year, also took steps on Tuesday — deliberate steps, aides said — to keep the door open to a future bid for the presidency. She rallied supporters in her speech, and, at an earlier event with 3,000 women, described her passion about her own campaign. And her aides limited input on the speech from Obama advisers, while seeking advice from her former strategist, Mark Penn, a loathed figure in the Obama camp. But the main task for Mrs. Clinton at the convention — reaffirming her support for Mr. Obama in soaring and unconditional language — dominated her 20-minute speech, and she betrayed none of the anger and disappointment that she still feels and that, friends say, has especially haunted her husband. Declaring herself to be “a proud supporter of Barack Obama,” Mrs. Clinton urged Democrats to put aside their personal loyalty to her and unite behind Mr. Obama — or else risk continuing Bush administration policies under the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain. “Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose,” Mrs. Clinton said. “And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership. “No way, no how, no McCain,” she added. She also made a nod to her husband in talking about how Mr. Obama would handle the economy. “And when Barack Obama is in the White House,” Mrs. Clinton said, “he’ll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before. And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again.” SOURCE:NYT.COM