Obama, Clinton Look to Set Aside Differences, Campaign Together

June 23, 2008— -- Political campaigns are often accused of being symbol-minded, but that won't stop Sen. Barack Obama from holding his first joint campaign stop with ex-rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in a town called Unity.

The two politicians, who thumped each other throughout a bitter marathon of primary battles, will make their debut in Unity, N.H., Friday as the political odd couple on the campaign trail.

The location for their stumping ground was selected for its obvious name appeal, but also because New Hampshire will be a key battleground in the fall election. In addition, Obama and Clinton each won 107 votes in Unity during the state's January primary.

Clinton and Obama will be together again on Thursday when Obama appeals for help from Clinton's top fundraisers at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. That meeting is designed to help raise money for Obama, but to also find a way to help Clinton pay down her $10 million campaign debt.

At both events, her words and body language will be parsed for any lack of enthusiam for Obama.

Like old times, Clinton will take a bite out of Obama's spotlight again this week, first by simply returning to work at the Senate and later with her appearance on the campaign trail.

Her reemergence comes as the two sides are still dealing with some raw emotions left over from the hard fought primary that dashed Clinton's White House hopes.

People close to Clinton are frustrated that the Obama campaign has yet to propose a way to help her retire her campaing debt, while some close to Obama think the Clintons are being sore losers who won't go out of their way to praise Obama.

A case in point was Bill Clinton's appearance Sunday at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

During his address, the former president mentioned Obama only once, and that was to praise Obama for supporting one of programs begun during Clinton's administration.

"I was delighted to read that Senator Obama said he would reinstitute the COPS program," Clinton told the conference.

And when Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance this weekend since her concession speech, she never even mentioned Obama's name.

The closest the New York senator came to citing Obama during her speech at a Bronx high school's graduation was to say, "No one five years ago, or four years ago, could have conceived that an African-American and a woman would be competng for the president of the United States."

Some of those tensions could be smoothed over on Thursday, when Obama meets with Clinton's top fundraisers in Washington.

"This meeting plays a very important role in healling the tensions," veteran Democrat strategist Tad Devine, who worked on Sen. John Kerry's presidential race, told "Good Morning America" on Monday.