'We are on the same team'
'TIME IS NOW TO UNITE' | Hillary tells backers to get behind Obama, prevent a McCain presidency
DENVER -- "We are on the same team," Hillary Clinton told her sign-waving fans.
Clinton and Barack Obama delegates both waved the same blue-on-white "Hillary" signs and "Unity" signs at Denver's Pepsi Center as Clinton, dressed in a trademark orange pantsuit, implored them all to become one happy family after the bruising primary she fought against Obama.
(AP)
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Hillary's DNC speech
The standing ovation for Clinton lasted more than three minutes after she took the stage.
During the cheers, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was teary-eyed in his seat, mouthing "I love you. I love you. I love you."
She had a message for the 30 percent of those who voted for her who told pollsters they'll vote for John McCain rather than Barack Obama:
"Whether you voted for me or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines," she said.
"I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me?" she said. "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 young boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?"
The crowd waved flags, cheered her and "booed" McCain when she slammed him and said they all needed to join together to support Obama to prevent McCain from winning.
"It makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities because these days they are awful hard to tell apart," she said to laughter.
Grudges ran so hard among Clinton fans in Illinois that Obama's "political godfather," State Senate President Emil Jones was heard in a crowded Denver hotel lobby Saturday shouting "Uncle Tom," at a black Clinton supporter who demanded and got an apology of sorts from Jones. Jones denied using the slur.
Clinton tried to put the choice for her supporters in stark terms.
"We don't have a moment to lose or a vote to spare," she said. "Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hangs in the balance."
The bigger question than whether Clinton persuaded the party faithful in Denver's Pepsi Center is whether she convinced her 18 million supporters around the country to let go of the dream of her winning the presidency.
Clinton started her campaign earlier than Obama, only to have the Illinois senator, with his celebrity-level charisma, take the honor right out from underneath her.
But Clinton has given the message to her supporters to put out the word that it's time to forgive and forget.
"We respect her for what she's accomplished. But like everything else, once you leave a primary, you have to join ranks," Mayor Daley told members of the Illinois delegation Tuesday morning, urging Clinton supporters to embrace Obama.
"Now, we're telling people to come back and join the ranks in supporting a candidate who won fairly, honestly and openly in the primary," the mayor said.
Clinton took the opportunity to plug the paramount issue of her campaign, saying, "I can't wait to watch Barack Obama sign a health-care plan into law that covers every single American."
Clinton was introduced by her daughter, Chelsea. Immediately before Chelsea spoke, blue-jeaned Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said to cheers, "I'm a rancher." Schweitzer slammed McCain's support for "$4 billion in tax breaks for Big Oil? That's a lot of change. But it's not the change that we need."