Vanquished Clinton’s last words:Obama for President

Clinton declared that she is throwing her full support behind Obama to be the next president of the US, as he tries to defeat McCain in November’s general election. Her constituency of white, working class voters, women and Hispanics can play a crucial role in boosting Obama’s chances

Hillary Clinton formally conceded the race for the Democratic presidential nomination to Senator Barack Obama and told supporters they should join her in the fight to help him win the White House.
She urged her supporters to “take our energy, our passion, our strength and help elect Barack Obama the next president of the US.’’ “I endorse him and throw my full support behind him,’’ Clinton, told a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters gathered today at the National Building Museum in Washington. The event capped a 17-month campaign that evolved into one of the closest nomination battles in US history.
Obama, wasn’t part of the event and spent the day in his hometown of Chicago with his family.
The former first lady’s rally was the latest attempt to unite the Democratic Party after a divisive campaign, and follows a secret meeting with Obama on Thursday night, and speculation about her vice presidential prospects. Clinton’s constituency of white, working class voters, women and Hispanics could play a crucial role in boosting Obama all the way to the White House, but is also seen by Republican John McCain as part of his own path to power.
“She will do anything, she has made that clear, she will do anything she can to help Barack Obama,” Hillary’s campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said.
Clinton’s speech at noon (1600 GMT) is the final act in a near 17-month odyssey which has encompassed two winters, the snows of Iowa and the dry heat of Nevada, gritty towns of Pennsylvania and swank Hollywood fundraisers. The former first lady, 60, was once a prohibitive front-runner, leading national polls by huge margins last year, but her campaign was stunned by her loss in the leadoff Iowa caucuses on January 3.
After she failed to knock Obama, out in the Super Tuesday nationwide primary contests in February, the former first lady was always behind, despite clinging on with famous victories in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. On Friday, an exuberant Obama offered a cheeky prediction he would be president in 2016, as he tried to lend his winning streak to his home city of Chicago’s Olympics bid. Obama joked he could put his house up for rent, to make a financial killing if Chicago wins the Summer Games.   
“I have to let you know in 2016, I’ll be wrapping up my second term as president,” Obama said in a surprise appearance at a rally celebrating Chicago’s selection as a finalist for the Olympics.   
“So I can’t think of a better way than to be marching into Washington park ... as president of the United States and announcing to the world, let the Games begin!” he told a surprise outdoor rally downtown. Mystery still shrouded the talks between Obama and Clinton at the home of Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein on Thursday night. “I had a chance to talk to Hillary for a little bit because she came early,” Feinstein told Fox News. “Then Barack Obama came, and I seated them in comfortable chairs by the fireplace, then I went upstairs to work. “When they were finished, he called up, and I came down and said goodnight. That was it.”   
Feinstein said she had heard the pair laughing as the meeting broke up. “I think the opportunity to sit down, just the two of
them, have an hour together,
was positive,” the California
senator pointed out. The campaigns said the talks were productive, but no further details have leaked out. —AFP