Unity: Not Just a Town in New Hampshire
UNITY, NH — Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton kissed and made up on stage in a field in rural New Hampshire today, each pledging to put the divisive campaign of the past 16 months behind them to come together in an effort to win back the White House.
Hillary Clinton was greeted with chants of “Thank You Hillary!” With Obama sitting to her right, smiling and clapping along with the chant and with her words, Clinton told the crowd of about 6,000, “New Hampshire has a special place in my heart. And I’m here today to ensure that, come November, New Hampshire will have a special place in Barack Obama’s heart as well.”
“I don’t think it’s at all unknown among this audience that this was a hard fought primary campaign,” she acknowledged — drawing a laugh when she called their sometimes bitter back-and-forth “a spirited dialogue.”
“We have gone toe to toe in this hard fought primary. But today and every day going forward, we stand shoulder to shoulder for the ideals we share.”
“Today we are coming together for the same goal: to elect Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.”
She spoke directly to her supporters so embittered by the primary that they’ve pledged to support John McCain over Obama. “To anyone who voted for me and is now considering not voting or voting for Senator McCain, I strongly urge you to reconsider,” she said. “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.”
“I hope you’ll join me. I hope you’ll stand with me. I hope you’ll work as hard for Senator Obama as many of you did for me,” she continued.
Handing off the microphone after a 25 minute speech, Senator Clinton stood at Obama’s side as the Illinois Senator praised her toughness and passion — saying “she rocks, that’s the point I’m trying to make.” Obama also implied that both she and her husband will be put to work on behalf of the campaign.
“I know how much we’ll need both Bill and Hillary Clinton as a party and as a country in the months and years to come. They have done so much great work,” he said. “We need them. We need them badly. Not just my campaign but the American people, we need their service and their vision and their wisdom.”
While it was all about healing party divisions today, Obama’s speech looked forward not backward — offering a distinct choice between Democrats and Republicans while making sure to include his new partner. “You can go with John McCain’s plans to do nothing, or you can stand side by side with me and Hillary Clinton and finally, once and for all provide the health care that every American needs in this country,” he said. “That is the choice in this election.”
“I promise you, if you are willing to join me and you are willing to join Hillary Clinton, if all of you over the next four and a half months are willing not just come to a rally but knock on some doors and make some phone calls, and talk to your friends, if you are willing to organize and mobilize, then we are not just going to change this country, but we are going to change the world,” Obama said in closing. “Thank you Senator Hillary Clinton, thank you New Hampshire, Thank you Unity. Let’s get to work.”
Tags: barack obama, hillary clinton, New Hampshire, unity
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I’m still not convinced. I voted for Clinton but will be voting for McCain come November. One reason is McCain if for drilling amoung other sources of energy to get us independent of OPEC. Obama is against drilling. I also feel we don’t need another liberal in the Supreme Court. Our constitution will be tramped on if that happens. Roe vs Wade has been threatened to be overturned for at least the last ten years, it’s a hollow threat that is going to be used to get the women to vote for Obama. The Dems in Congress will never let that happen with or without Obama. I also don’t agree with Obama that my tax dollars should go to illegal aliens getting free health care.
Am I the only one to view Obama’s call for his supporters to Help Clinton payoff her debt to be buying her votes?
It is one thing to make a contribution to your candidate’s campaign, but seems to me to be a different story to payoff (directly or indirectly through your contributors) another candidate’s debts in exchange for their votes.
I would have expected Clinton to lend her support to Obama, but was shocked to see this tied in with Obama’s call on his supporter’s to help her pay off her millions of dollars in debt.
It’s about time we had some UNITY!!!! Bickering and and backstabbing gain nothing.
Concerned Citizen said:
” I would have expected Clinton to lend her support to Obama, but was shocked to see this tied in with Obama’s call on his supporter’s to help her pay off her millions of dollars in debt. ”
Gives one a bad feeling to see such, just for the pure insincerity and principle of it.
Concerned Citizen, it’s called POLITICS. His whole purpose is to buy his way into office by getting her supporters to vote for him. Another of his unethical ways of getting elected. If he is elected,(God help us) this is only the beginning of his unheard of ways of leading our country into complete oblivia. After the first terrorist attack on our country, he will duck his tail and take off running just as he is promising he will do in Iraq. You talk about a coward…he is one. He is one scary person to have as a leader of our country. ALL SMOKE, NO FIRE….JUST PROMISES AND MORE PROMISES…NOTHING TO BACK THEM UP.
Barb in TN - Obama isn’t against drilling, just not for the Republican coastal land-grab that McCain is suggesting. The oil companies have wanted off shore drilling rights for years and are squeezing us now in order to get it. They have hundreds of thousands of acres under lease RIGHT NOW that they are sitting on until the price of oil goes higher. We are being gamed.
As for Obama asking his donors to pay down Clinton’s debt, that has been done many times before to “heal the wounds” and make everyone “feel good” going into the general election. I believe he only asked his big ticket donors to help, not the millions of low dollar supporters.
Dear Barb…
Please stay in TN. Your ignorance of the political system in the United States and indeed world wide is awe inspiring.
Well, I for one will vote for Obama come this election. I would have voted once a long time ago for McCain, but he’s become such a hawk losing his moderate stance and playing into many of Bush’s policies. I’m proud that at least he stuck with his guns about torture. However there are alot of other issues that leave me disconcerted.
As for the energy problem as i see it, the falling price of the dollar is what is making things like oil such a big problem. The solution isn’t going to be offshore drilling as many seem to believe. Those ideas will take decades to see results and i can’t see many drivers willing to wait that long. I’m not saying i have the answers, but I am asking people to look at the issues from more then one perspective.
The ideas that Obama is expressing about utilizing new/old technologies that are sustainable and renewable to me seem like the best solution towards helping us divorce ourselves from our dependence on oil. This coupled with the fact that it seems like the alternative in terms of environmental costs is to high to pay. People forget things like oil spills, which effects are still felt by many on the west coast. Perhaps some people might not care if the oceans and coasts lose a great amount of their wildlife due to oil leaks and misplaced habitat. I for one would not enjoy a beach devoid of life.
For the health care issue, i find it funny that people are so miserly about where there tax dollars go and whats used with them. The fact that comparatively our taxes are low when seen against other countries, and that a better system of health care is going to help a great percentage of America doesn’t seem to factor into their mindset. Perhaps my thoughts are altruistic but when helping out a fellow man are you not helping make the world a better place?
So therefore i would ask voters to be open-minded and look very carefully and then make a decision that truly helps America and the world. Because whether we think so or not this whole globe is connected, and people need to start being more mindful of that fact.
Senator Clinton deserves the nomination. If Obama is sincere about change, then he will ask her to be his running mate. Yet, the thought of her being second in command chills me to the bone. Is this that time in history when we do know better, but go ahead anyway?
Thank goodness I’ve wanted McCain to run for several years now. Ironic that for the first time a decent candidate I like is running against another candidate I also like. I wish there was a way for McCain and Obama or Obama and McCain ticket. Now that would be the change America can profit from.
AH AH AH AH Don’t make me laugh, (GREED) She’s doing this for the money, she has to pay $20.000.000 that she owes, then she knows that she could get a lot more
There’s not UNITY, you and everybody knows how much she hates OBAMA
Or either you are naive or just plain stupid.
AH AH AH AH (GREED) Don’t make me laugh,She’s doing this for maney
She have to pay the $20.000.000 that she owes and then she knows that she could get more
(UNITY) AH AH AH you and everybody knows how much she hates OBAMA
People are either naive or just plain stupid to believe(UNITY)
Wow…. this is so political. She (Clinton) needs someone to pay her campaign debt and he (Obama) needs her supporters to vote for him. Are they really sincere to each other after all the fights they had few months ago? Time to ponder…..what is behind their minds.
I’m not a republican and never voted for Bush. But now, I have to think of voting for McCain who has clearer and more sincere minds than those two democrats.
He’s going to have to make her VP to win.
They are a fantastic couple of leaders and we’re lucky to have them as a nation.
McCain allowing drilling along the coastlines and Alaska will NOT provide us with independence from Opec. That is a myth. Conservation is the way to really make immediate change.
Besides, experts now say as much as 9 Billion gallons of oil could be under Los Angeles. A better policy would be to un-cap those oil wells, which are already in place, and start pumping again. Once we despoil our coastlines and our wilderness area’s we’ll have no reason for tourists to come and spend their $$ in our country. Tourist $$ are by far the most profitable and least damaging dollars a state or country can earn. Obama and Gov. Schwarzenegger understand this, hopefully others will as well.
Come on — who believes this unity stuff?
Hillary’s campaign was deeply in debt. It was in the news that she was brokering a backroom deal with Obama for him to pay off that debt — in exchange she would appear with him to try to salvage the Hillary vote.
So, say the debt was 20 million dollars — she has to endure maybe 7 appearances with Obama, pretending to be interested and liking him…. 20 million divided by 7 is around 3 million dollars per appearance. Does she get a bonus for a hug??
Man that is a great hourly rate!!
When the ‘obligation’ is over, Hillary will dissappear faster than a tax increase gets approved by a liberal — and we ALL know how fast that occurs
Regarding energy “independence from OPEC”. we will never see a drop of oil drilled on US soil. It’s a global market open to vicious speculation. The bubble has taken over the commodities market and we are in for a wild ride.I think it is better left in the ground and to search for viable alternatives. We all know the story of oil and where it will take us. We’ve had 8 years of the “oil team” and it’s got us less independence, more big government, and fewer choices. I can’t believe a true Clinton supporter would go to McCain.
Regarding energy “independence from OPEC”. we will never see a drop of oil drilled on US soil. It’s a global market open to vicious speculation. The bubble has taken over the commodities market and we are in for a wild ride.I think it is better left in the ground and to search for viable alternatives. We all know the story of oil and where it will take us. We’ve had 8 years of the “oil team” and it’s got us less independence, more big government, and fewer choices. I can’t believe a true Clinton supporter would go to McCain.
Unity - a word, and yes, a town. Does American need Bill and Hillary? Both of Bill’s elections, I believe, netted him maybe 50% of the popular vote. The Democratic party wants “the family” to come together. How about the pther half of the county that is not in your country? How about a family that divides its members into their specific components - hispanics, blacks, poor whites, single moms, older women - and then somehow expects unity as a country - which is, after all, what this election is about. They said it pretty well 230 yeats ago - united we stand, divided we fall. And back then they cared about the ENTIRE country, not just their 50%. My favorite new bumper sticker? “Obama for ‘Present’”
One other aftrerthought - ‘change we can believe in’ only works if you’ll tell us what kind of change you have in mind? Switching on public financing? Talking to terrorist leaders - or not? Taxing those nasty oil companies so we continue to send all of our money to buy good old Russian oil? Maybe to pay middle eastern leaders to create schools that teach deatch to America? Venezuelan dictators? All so we can drive solo in our giant Dodge trucks, or our manly Hummers?
Do we need to protect the environment? Yes. Should we use every bit of technology we can to do so? You bet. Do we need to cut down on our use of oil? Hell, yes. But we also need supply. Ironic, isn’t it? We have supply, and if we drill the same kinds of places that other countries do - offshore and in wilderness areas for example - then we can stop shipping all of our country’s wealth overseas. Do you think Russia has any qualms about driling in the North Sea or above the Arctic Circle? Will they do it as carefully as we would? Probably not. But here we are, talking of taxing the oil companies to make them stop raising gas prices, when in fact it is our enemies who control the price - and we seem willing to pay them increasing chunks of our national future while we have to fight to use any of our own resources. I promise you, after the country falls into ’second world’ disrepair, the countries that own us will be here drilling for our oil - but by then it will be theirs.
Wake up Mr Obama…
“‘Omaba for present’”
Still not convinced myself. I really don’t see the unity.
As for buying votes, yes this looks like it to me.
Buying votes, buying a Yale education, buying Florida polling machines, buying the Supreme Court. When it comes to buying things, Bush takes the cake.
And guess what - we already are a second world country. We have an education system that is falling apart from years of neglect, a failing economy due to an expensive war and a huge government deficit, a health care system run by for- profit drug companies rather than doctors and a welfare system so overloaded it can’t help the working poor for which it was designed.
Wake up Republican Party -
McCain is McSame.
B. H. Obama and H. R. Clinton are using the P. T. Bnum philosophy on all of us. P. T.s Said and believed there is a SUCKER born every minute. Well Obama & Clinton think we are all SUCKERS. I watched ,i listened, i can to this conculsion. B. H. Obama & H. R. Clinton of for sure two people that Will Rogers never met. Please open your eyes AMERICA.
It seems that there is no honesty. I find it hard to believe that there is unity between them. It is like they are using there game face , you can see the tention between them.
YOU STARTED OUT WITH TWO COMMENTS EARLIER TODAY WHEN I SUBMITTED MY OWN. YOU HAVE 17 MORE SINCE THEN, AND MINE HAS BEEN IGNORED. *WAS I TOO REALITSIC FOR YOU?
My comments don’t show up.
I wrote a song a while back that fits into this realm of discussion.
click here:
For those of you who believe Senator Obama is buying Clinton’s voters by asking his big $2,300.00 donors to help Clinton are totally wrong. She asked for Senator Obama to help pay her debts, if he refused, then you would be giving him hell for that too! Some of you Clinton supporters are so into her backside, you cannot think logically. Clintons big donors cannot contribute to her and could not while she was campaigning because they donated that amount at the very beginning; they can now donate $2,300.00 to Obama’s campaign. Senator Obama cannot write a check to Hilliary from his own campaign, so is asking his big donors to help Hilliary pay down her debt, not the entire $23 million. It is amazing that all those Hilliary followers have made no effort to help her pay off her debt!! IF you love her you so much, why havn’t and aren’t you?? No matter what Senator Obama says or does, you are quick to throw the sword at him. Your reasoning leaves much to be desired, by voting for McCain you are cutting off your own noses to spite your face; while you are at it, don’t stop there, punch your eyes out, cut off your ears, arms and feet. Because by voting for him, this is exactly doing what YOU are doing to Hilliary’s ideas, policies, and issue stances. Perhaps you have not been paying attention, Hilliary and Sentator Obamas policies are relatively the same. They want to move this country forward for the betterment of all of us, including you! No, you don’t want that, you would rather vote for McSame and in the process throw everything Hilliary stands for back into her face. Yes, this definitely tells Hilliary exactly what you think of her!!! Think logically instead of letting your angry resentful emotions get the best of you.
IF it is not negative toward McCain, Fox will not post our entries. IF it’s negative toward Senator Obama they will post our entries.
I can’t help but laugh when folks say a certain politicain wasn’t honest and act shocked Or seem appalled by a politicians dishonesty,..hello people when have you seen an ever seen honest politician?
If Obama is elected (God help us) expect to see a mass exodus from the U.S. to a place where Obama cant govern them. Count me in. He is a very well spoken individual who can shovel B.S. faster than all you Obama followers can swallow.
Evolution will never end as long as you people refuse to become like the rest of us who follow Mcain. Clear the B.S. fog from your eyes and look at this with simple intelligence. Mcain is the only one who can keep America from return to the Neanderthal era.