Clinton to end candidacy and announce support for Obama

WASHINGTON -- In the end, it took barely 24 hours for Hillary Rodham Clinton to adapt to her party's new political order.

The New York senator told reporters in a e-mail early today that she will end her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination on Saturday.

In it, she says that "on Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. … I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise." The campaign said the event was moved from Friday to Saturday to allow more people to attend.

The news came after a day of hand-wringing and tea-leaf reading over Clinton's failure to concede the race to Obama on Tuesday night, after he had surpassed the 2,118 party delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

As the pair made back-to-back speeches Wednesday to an important group in presidential politics, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, it seemed like just another day on the campaign trail. But the primary season is over — and not a minute too soon for some Democrats.

While some in the party urged patience in allowing Clinton time to accept defeat, others said it was time to move on. Top Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said in a pointed statement that "Democrats must now turn our full attention to the general election."

Even some Clinton supporters made clear that they were hoping for closure. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., a home-state stalwart for Clinton, said it was "confusing" that she hadn't endorsed Obama. "There's only one candidate out there," he said on MSNBC. "The time has come."

Another backer, Hilary Rosen, said she was disappointed at Clinton's lack of "grace." By failing to concede, Rosen wrote at The Huffington Post, "she left her supporters empty, Obama's angry, and party leaders trashing her."

The former first lady's journey from flush front-runner to debt-ridden runner-up in the Democratic nomination race is a tale of overconfidence, bad choices and unfortunate timing.

Even so, Clinton finished the season on a winning streak, and as Obama became the first African-American presidential nominee by a major party, she made history as well. Her expertise on economic issues and her late emergence as a populist fighting for ordinary people helped her win more contests than she lost during the last three months. She earned more than 17 million votes and gave millions hope that they'd see a woman president before they die.

After months of frenetic campaigning, Clinton seemed to be downshifting slowly and edging into her new status. Though she did not acknowledge Obama as the nominee at her AIPAC appearance, she came close.

"The next Democratic president" will be committed to Israel's security, she said, and continued, "I know Sen. Obama understands what it is at stake here. … Let me be very clear: I know that Sen. Obama will be a good friend to Israel."