Hillary Clinton stood alongside Barack Obama at a women’s fundraising breakfast for the Obama Victory Fund. The minimum donation - $250. This after attending a $33,000/plate Manhattan dinner together the night before.

On her home turf, Clinton urged her supporters to get behind Barack Obama’s campaign. Republicans, as much as they should, she said, will not “go go gently into that good night.”  She continued, “No matter how self evident it is to us that this is the man, this is the candidate, this is the one we should be voting for, working for and making our president – there are millions of your fellow Americans who aren’t there yet, so we have to really be engaged and that’s what I’m asking you to do.” Besides, she noted, Tthe Democratic Party is a family, you know, sometimes a dysfunctional family but it’s a family.”

The former candidate shared with the mostly female crowd a backstage moment. “Barack and I were talking before we came out before about the rigors of the campaign trail, which are many…Barack said, ‘You look kind of rested.’ I said, ‘Well ‘kind of’ is the right descriptor,’ but I’m actually, if you don’t tell anybody, trying to exercise a little bit, which I’m told does wonders for a person. Because during the campaign, you I’m sure read that Barack would get up faithfully every morning and go to the gym. I would get up and have my hair done. Just one of those Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire things that are part of our lives,” she joked as the crowd laughed.

For his part, Obama admitted he “desperately” needs both Hillary and Bill Clinton to be involved in this campaign. “If we are working together and all the women in this room are working together - there is no way we’re gonna lose in November. That I’m absolutely confident of,” he said.

As he has since he announced he was the presumptive Democratic nominee on the night of the final primary, Barack Obama praised Hillary Clinton - this time with a twist. Looking out at the sea of women, Obama said, “As someone who took the same historic journey as Senator Clinton – although I didn’t do it in heels – who shared the stage with her many times over these last 16 months, I know firsthand how tough she is, how passionate she is, and how committed she is to the causes that bring us here today.”

Obama continues with Thursday’s theme and will hold a town hall in Fairfax, Virginia, this afternoon geared towards women’s economic security.

Just a few months ago Democrats were split down the middle. Team Obama v. Team Clinton. The schism was deep - and made deeper by comments Bill Clinton made on the campaign trail - gaffes, some might say - that seemed to further divide the Party.

Today - just about a month after the contest ended - the rift is no longer. So says Barack Obama.

Obama and Mrs. Clinton stood side-by-side in Unity, New Hampshire, last week and just yesterday, Mr. Clinton told Obama he would campaign with and for the presumptive Democratic nominee during a 20 minute phone call initiated by Obama. “President Clinton continues to be impressed by Sen. Obama and the campaign he has run, and looks forward to campaigning for and with him in the months to come,” a Clinton spokesman said.

At a press avail in Ohio today, Obama praised Clinton, and enthusiastically welcomed his help on the campaign trail. “He is one of the most gifted public officials of our generation and you know has been one of the most successful presidents that we’ve had in my lifetime, so I want his active involvement, his active participation,” Obama told reporters.

Obama said the two did not “belabor” what was said during the primary season, but that they both acknowledged that words may have been said that “afterwards you may end up thinking, ‘Ah, it might have been a little intemperate.’” He continued, “But that’s the nature of political campaigns. We are absolutely united in wanting to make sure that Dems succeed both in Congress and in the White House in November, and that we can move an agenda forward that’s actually going to help the people in Ohio.”

A Clinton campaign aide says both Hillary Clinton and her husband went online today to donate the maximum $2,300 each to Barack Obama’s general election campaign.

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.”

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Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama showed up together at Reagan National Airport to board the Midwest MD-80 that was once hers and is now his while he waits for his Boeing 757 to be modified. Wearing a baby blue pantsuit that matched Obama’s baby blue tie, Sen Clinton looked well rested and fit — and laughed and shook hands with airport workers on the tarmac. The two senators briefly kissed each other on the cheek before walking up the steps to the plane, jointly waving at reporters waiting outside.

Inside the plane, Clinton and Obama staffers laughed and mingled. Obama quickly took his usual seat on the left side of the plane, while Clinton instinctively stood in her usual seat on the right. After awhile, she sat next to Obama on his side of the plane.

They’re on their way to Manchester, NH, where a motorcade will drive them an hour north to Unity. It’s easy to forget on a day like today that these two weren’t always the best of friends — which is why i combed the video archives to pull out a few reminders. Enjoy.

Hillary Clinton introduced Barack Obama to 150 of her top fundraisers in Washington in an attempt to begin healing some of the wounds caused by the fractious primary process. But It was a gesture by Obama that may have gone a long way towards smoothing things over with still-smarting Clinton donors: he became one of them.

Obama handed over a check to the Clinton campaign for $4,600 — the maximum allowable contribution for a couple. His campaign finance chair Penny Pritzker did the same, giving her check to Clinton chairman Terry McAuliffe — who waved it in front of reporters outside after the event. The money will go towards paying down Clinton’s $10 million in campaign debt - though it will go further as a symbolic gesture of Obama’s commitment to that process.

Some donors were upset that while Obama had given his big donors the green light to help Clinton with the debt, he had yet to donate money himself and had pointedly refused to reach out to his huge base of small donors for help.

While many Hillraisers in attendance said Obama had struck every right note in his speech to them, some still left uncomfortable. New York donor Bill White told FOX that Obama was impressive, but that he just wasn’t ready to write a check yet. For some, those wounds still need time to heal.

CHICAGO, Ill — Barack Obama said he’s not worried that Bill Clinton hasn’t delivered a splashy endorsement, and that he’s committed to helping Clinton’s wife pay down her substantial campaign debt in a wide-ranging press conference at the Westin Hotel today.

Obama also objected to the characterization that his decision to opt out of the public financing system he once promised to work to preserve was a flip-flop — denying that he’d ever committed to staying within the system in teh first place. “If you recall my original statement, it was prompted by the fact that everybody had said, including John McCain, that they were looking to opt out of the system,” he said. “It was on our own initiative without any prompting that we wrote to the FEC” to preserve the option of remaining within the system. “So the answer is no, I don’t think that it is going to damage my credibility at all.”

John McCain’s called that an “arrogant refusal to concede that he broke his word to the American people.” Spokesman Tucker Bounds writes that “everyone in American knows that Barack Obama refused to keep his commitment to public financing because of the money,” calling it “typical politics.”

On the Clintons, Obama said he’s looking forward to having Bill Clinton campaign for him across the country — and that the former president’s low profile support in the form of a statement from an aide is understandable. “I’m going to be appearing with Senator Clinton, the former president’s wife who was involved in an epic, historic primary with me, and then I’m going to be campaigning with her on Friday,” he said. “The former president wouldn’t want to upstage what is going to be, I think, a terrific unity event.”

“If the question is do I want Bill Clinton campaigning for us, for the ticket, leading into November, the answer is absolutely yes. I want him involved. He is a brilliant politician. He was a outstanding president. And so I want his help not only in campaigning but also in governing. And I’m confident that I’ll get that help.”

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Hillary Clinton returned to Capitol Hill for Day Two of her Back to Work extravaganza — this time meeting with House Democrats about the need to win in November and her support for Barack Obama.

Sources inside the meeting tell Fox producer Chad Pergram that Clinton got rousing support applause and good support from lawmakers who’d supported her one-time rival. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) told Fox that Clinton said it was good to be back in Congress as just “another superdelegate.”

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Clinton “the most respected political figure in America” after her White House run, saying “because of her campaign, the Democratic party is much more energized, much more prepared to win in November and much better prepared to govern in January.”

Clinton reaffirmed her commitment to working to elect Obama in November. “This election is a make or break election. And I’m doing what I can to make sure that Senator Obama is sworn-in as the next President of the United States here in this Capitol,” she said. “I’m excited about getting back to work here in the Congress and campaigning with Senator Obama on Friday.”

“It’s been a long, long period with President Bush and Vice President Cheny. And that will be ending.”

After speaking with Hillary Clinton on sunday and again today, Barack Obama told top donors on a conference call today to help his primary rival retire her campaign debt, the campaign confirms.

The New York Senator owes north of $10 million to vendors - nearly half of which is owed to former chief strategist and campaign scapegoat Mark Penn. She lent herself more than $12 million on top of that, which she’s said she doesn’t expect to get back.

Clinton will introduce Obama to some of her big fundraisers in Washington on Thursday at the Mayflower Hotel, and will appear in public with the nominee in Unity, NH on Friday.

UPDATE: Clinton’s campaign says “Senator Clinton appreciates Senator Obama’s generous efforts and is continuing her efforts to raise the monies he needs to ensure a victory in November.”

And Clinton emailed a direct appeal to supporters asking to help out with her debt, saying “As you know, I had to loan money to my campaign at critical moments. I’m not asking for anyone’s help to pay that back. That was my investment and my commitment because I believe so deeply in our cause. But I do need your help paying the debts we accrued to others over the course of this campaign.”

Read the rest of the email after the break.

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After more than two weeks off, Senator Clinton came back to her day job today — arriving on Capitol Hill to the cheers of some 50 interns and the hounding questions of the political press corps. She welcomed the applause but ignored the questions, turning to wave as she entered the building.

Clinton missed an early vote on housing, showing up in time for the Democrats’ weekly strategy session. She emerged to talk to reporters staking out the meeting outside the LBJ room, saying “I am rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work.”

“To my friends here in the leadership in the caucus and all of our colleagues I expressed my appreciation for the work that is done here in the Senate every single day and my commitment to working on behalf of the issues and values that we all stand for,” she said.

“It’s going to be up to the Democratic Party and particularly the Democratic Senate to make progress on everything from healthcare and the economy to ending the war in Iraq and I look forward to being back with this great team that we have here doing everything I can to make that happen.”

On her presidential bid, Clinton said “It was such an honor and a privilege for me to spend the last eighteen months as I did going across our country and having a chance to immerse myself in the extraordinary resilience and resourcefulness that is the American people. And I come back with an even greater depth of awareness about what we have to do here in Washington.”

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