Clinton disavows push to make her veep
WASHINGTON (AP) - June 5, 2008 "She is not seeking the vice presidency, and no one speaks for
her but her," communications director Howard Wolfson said. "The
choice here is Senator Obama's and his alone."
Clinton was planning an event in Washington Saturday to thank
supporters and urge them to back Obama's candidacy. But as she was
bowing out of the race, supporters in Congress and elsewhere were
ramping up a campaign to pressure him to put her on the ticket.
Bob Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment
Television and a Clinton supporter, sent a letter to the
Congressional Black Caucus Wednesday urging the group to encourage
Obama to choose Clinton as his vice presidential pick. He said he
was doing so with her blessing.
Obama is seeking to become the first black president.
Clinton has told other friends and supporters she would be
willing to be Obama's running mate. But her immediate task is
bringing her own presidential bid to a close.
In an e-mail to supporters, the New York senator said she "will
be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party
behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before
us too important to do otherwise."
Clinton expressed the same sentiment in a conference call with
40 members of her national finance committee, whom she urged to
begin raising money for Obama and for the Democratic National
Committee.
"She was in good spirits and totally supportive, without
qualification, of Senator Obama and his campaign," finance
co-chairman Alan Patricof said of the call.
It was a shift in tone by the former first lady, who announced
17 months ago that she was "in it to win it." Many of her
supporters want her as the vice presidential candidate, in their
minds a "dream ticket" that would bring Obama her enthusiastic
legions and broaden his appeal to white and working-class voters.
On his campaign plane, Obama praised Clinton for inspiring
millions of voters and said she had opened the doors for his two
young daughters to imagine being president one day.
"We're going to speak to them but also listen to them and get
advice," he said of Clinton's campaign team.
Obama also said he would welcome help from former President
Clinton, calling him an "enormous talent."
Earlier, Obama indicated he intends to take his time making a
decision about inviting Hillary Clinton to join the ticket.
"We're not going to be rushed into it. I don't think Senator
Clinton expects a quick decision and I don't even know that she's
necessarily interested in that," Obama told NBC in an interview.
Clinton's move to formally declare that she is backing the
Illinois senator came after Democratic congressional colleagues
made clear they had no stomach for a protracted intraparty battle.
Now that Obama has secured the 2,118 delegates necessary to clinch
the nomination, Clinton had little choice but to end her quest, and
sooner rather than later.
Some of Clinton's closest supporters - the nearly two dozen
House Democrats from her home state of New York - switched their
endorsements to Obama Thursday.
The public announcement from the 23 New Yorkers followed two
days of private phone calls weighing her options.
"She was just as spunky as ever," Rep. Charlie Rangel said of
Clinton's mood on the calls, as her friends and supporters urged
her to come to a decision "sooner rather than later."
Many of the lawmakers said it was important for them, as New
Yorkers who are close to Clinton and helped launch her presidential
bid, to work together to repair some of the rifts in the party.
"We're Democrats. Damn it to hell we fight. When it's over, we
come together and go out there to win," said Rangel, the dean of
the New York delegation.
The New Yorkers, said Rep. Gregory Meeks, have a duty "to lead
this transition" to full party support of Obama.
Another of Clinton's most prominent supporters, Ohio Gov. Ted
Strickland, also announced his "wholehearted and enthusiastic
support" for Obama Thursday.
The move to end her campaign came Wednesday, when Clinton told
House Democrats during a private conference call that she would get
behind Obama's candidacy and congratulate him for gathering the
necessary delegates to be the party's nominee.
The only degree of uncertainty was how. Clinton is exploring
options to retain her delegates and promote her issues, including a
signature call for universal health care.
The announcement closed an epic five-month nominating battle
pitting the first serious female candidate against the most viable
black contender ever.
Obama on Tuesday night secured the delegates needed to clinch
the Democratic nomination. But Clinton stopped short of
acknowledging that milestone, defiantly insisting she was better
positioned to defeat McCain in November.
"What does Hillary want? What does she want?" Clinton asked,
hours after telling supporters she'd be open to joining Obama as
his vice presidential running mate.
But by Wednesday, other Democrats made it abundantly clear they
wanted something too: a swift end to the often bitter nominating
contest.
Her decision to acquiesce caught many in her campaign by
surprise and left them scrambling to finalize the logistics and
specifics behind her campaign departure.