Obama, Clinton rally in 'Unity'

UNITY, N.H. -- The winner and the runner-up in the Democratic presidential nominating contest made their public debut as allies Friday, pledging in a location loaded with symbolism to unite the party and win the White House.

The sun beat down and the sound system played U2's "It's a Beautiful Day" as Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton walked onto a field in a town named Unity, where each received exactly 107 votes in the state's January primary.

Harmony was the order of the day, from the outfits to the rhetoric.

Clinton wore a sky-blue pantsuit that matched Obama's tie. He put his arm around her shoulder.

She leaned in to talk in his ear. They competed to say nice things about each other.

Obama said he and Clinton had shared the stage as rivals for 16 months.

"Today I could not be happier and more honored and more moved that we're sharing the stage as allies," he said. "I've admired her as a leader. I've learned from her as a candidate. She rocks. She rocks. That's the point I'm trying to make."

Clinton said the pair's separate paths have merged with the goal of turning their 36 million votes into "an unstoppable force for change."

Referring to the primary victory that revived her campaign, she said New Hampshire has "a special place in my heart. And I am here today to insure that come November, New Hampshire will have a special place in Barack Obama's heart as well."

Both candidates addressed potential problems keeping some Clinton supporters from getting on board.

Clinton had strong words for those who are thinking about voting for Republican John McCain, or not voting at all.

"I strongly urge you to reconsider," she said.

She called McCain and President Bush "two sides of the same coin and it doesn't amount to a whole lot of change."

Clinton said McCain "and the Republicans may have hoped that we wouldn't join forces like this. They may have wished that we wouldn't stand united to fight this battle with everything we've got. But I've got news for them. We are one party. We are one America. And we are not going to rest until we take back our country."

Obama said he and Clinton had both shattered barriers, and he reached out indirectly to Clinton supporters who were upset by perceived gender bias in the campaign.

"I don't pretend that one election can erase past biases we are still wrestling to overcome. I know there are times over the last 16 months when those biases have emerged," he said. "Sen. Clinton has brushed them off with her usual grace and aplomb."

Their tones weren't always so collegial.

The campaign was so long and hard fought that when Clinton described it as "spirited," she triggered knowing laughs. "That was the nicest way I could think of phrasing it," she said.

Former president Bill Clinton hasn't yet made contact with Obama or personally endorsed him, although he pledged to help in a statement from a spokesman.

"They're going to talk, I'm sure," Obama strategist David Axelrod said. "We're not trying to crowd anybody. We expect that will happen."

However, Hillary Clinton spokesman Jamie Smith said both Clintons had written $2,300 checks to Obama — the maximum allowed.

The Obamas have done the same for Clinton, who needs help paying off her campaign debt.

There are no immediate plans for Hillary Clinton to go on the campaign trail for Obama.

"We'd love her to," Axelrod said. "One step at a time. I think she will be. She is genuinely interested in helping."

The audience here — by ticket only — was a mix of die-hard Obama supporters and Clinton backers in various stages of transition.

Jim Volinsky, 63, a contractor and restaurant owner from Newport, said he and his wife were "here to see Hillary" and will definitely be voting for Obama.

"It was just a hard-fought battle. It vetted both of them," he said. "I don't know if he's the right choice but certainly my wife and I will vote for him."

Sue Hoyt, 42, was wearing an "Obama '08" sticker, the better to help her get in the mood for November.

"I just think he's too young," she said. "I don't know enough about him."

The Bedford teacher said she'll be voting for Obama "by default" because "I don't want McCain in there."

Her friend, Kate Doyle, 55, of Weare, a former information technology professional, is an independent who voted for McCain in 2000.

This year she supported John Edwards before moving to Obama. As for Clinton, "I dislike her much more than I did before. She's just too big of a liar."

B.J. Roche, 53, of Rowe, a journalism professor at the University of Masachusetts-Amherst, said she's from a divided family. Her husband liked Clinton but she was wearing a "hot chicks for Obama" button.

The pair didn't have tickets but drove to Claremont, where buses were shuttling to the site a half-hour away, on the off-chance of getting in.

"We just begged tickets off people," Roche said. "It was like trying to get into a Stones concert."