Hillary Clinton To Democrats in Denver: 'No Way, No How, No McCain'

DENVER<br>Aug. 26, 2008 &#151; -- Democrats unveiled a primetime program Tuesday designed to emphasize Barack Obama as a middle class champion and paint Republican Sen. John McCain as out of touch on the economy.

But all of that was overshadowed by the same woman who has dogged Obama since this race began: New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Clinton -- whose name has become shorthand for party disunity at this convention -- delivered a rousing speech Tuesday thanking her supporters and urging them to back Obama in November.

The spotlight turns tonight to her husband, ex-president Bill Clinton, to see if he will shed his bitterness over his wife's defeat and give Obama his full-throated backing.

Bill Clinton's speech will end the Clinton show at the Democrats' convention and turn it over to Obama and his vice presidential pick, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. Biden will speak after Clinton tonight and Obama will command the party's undivided attention with an extravaganza at the Invesco Field on Thursday.

Watch Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos at the Democratic Convention TONIGHT at 10 p.m. ET on ABC

But before Obama gets to make his grand entrance, Hillary Clinton got to make a grand exit.

Walking out onto the stage, the crowd cheered so loud and so long she that Clinton delayed beginning her speech to not be drowned out.

In an aggressive and strongly delivered speech, Clinton said, "My friends it is time to take back the country we love and whether you voted for me or whether you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose."

"I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women's rights at home and around the world to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people," she said.

"And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership," she said, "No way. No how. No McCain."

On their feet, delegates cheered wildly during Clinton's rousing speech and a sea of signs reading "Hillary" on one side and "Unity" on the other, and other signs that read "Obama" and "Unity" flooded the convention hall.

In an appeal to her most ardent supporters, Clinton said, "I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?" she said.

The woman who downed beers and bowled during the Democratic primaries and won the support of working class voters over Obama, touted her former rival Tuesday as a champion of the middle class.

"Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down," she said.

She also slammed McCain linking him to President Bush, who has suffered record low public approval ratings.

"Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend. He has served our country with honor and courage. But we don't need four more years of the last eight years," she said.

"In 2008, he still thinks it's okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work," she said, "With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart."