Hillary Clinton boosts Obama in Chicago

by Rick Pearson

Sen. Hillary Clinton celebrated a double-homecoming of sorts in Chicago today, visiting the city in which she was born and paying homage to the American Federation of Teachers, which had endorsed her ill-fated run for the Democratic presidential nomination way back in October of last year.

"I'm here to say thank you for the privilege of working with you in this presidential campaign. It was a remarkable journey, one that I would not have wanted to make without you, and I feel very privileged that you went with me as we crisscrossed America," the New York senator told more than 3,000 delegates attending the teachers' union convention at Navy Pier.

But more than just offering her appreciation, Clinton received a standing ovation as she played the role of campaign surrogate for the man who defeated her for the presidential nomination, presumptive nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

"I bear such a sense of debt to those who gave me so much," she told the crowd, discussing the teachers she had while growing up in suburban Park Ridge. "I want to do the same for every American and I know the only way that we can realize the promise of this country, begin solving our problems again, be respected in the world, is to elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States of America."

The visit by Clinton, her first to Chicago since Obama gained the decisive number of Democratic convention nominating delegates in June, showed off the New York senator in a more relaxed style than what she displayed in the prolonged battle for the party's nomination. While she used some lines from her oft-repeated months' long campaign stump speech, Clinton had a new coda: electing the man she had frequently criticized for failing to pursue a strong Democratic social agenda.

"I know Sen. Obama. I've served with him now for nearly four years in the Senate. I campaigned with and against him for more than 16 months. I stood on a stage like this with him 22 times in debates, but who's counting?" she told leaders of the 1.4 million member union on the eve of formalizing their endorsement of the Illinois senator.

"I know his story represents the American dream and I have seen his passion and determination, his grace and his grit, and I know that he wants to take his life experiences into the White House to help make that dream possible for others," Clinton said.

Clinton didn't hold back on criticizing Republicans and the Bush administration and warned that presumptive GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, represented a continuation of the incumbent's failed policies.

She told the union that it must get actively involved in Obama's campaign because its members are always "standing up for education, understanding what happens in our schools is not divorced from what happens in our politics.

"In fact, nothing we care about is divorced from what happens in our politics," she said. "If anybody ever had a doubt as to whether it mattered who our president was, George W. Bush should have disabused you of every possible doubt that anyone might have ever entertained."

Clinton called on the union to "make this election the watershed it deserves to be."

"You can count on me to be your partner and your friend and I can't wait to see Barack raise his hand and take that oath of office and get to work," she said before departing with handshakes and pictures along the presidential candidate style rope lines that she used to frequent.

In her nearly 22 minutes of remarks, Clinton made no mention about a possible role on the Obama ticket. The Los Angeles Times reported that a prominent contributor and supporter of the New York senator's failed presidential bid had spoken to Obama and the Illinois senator did not rule out Clinton for the vice presidential slot. The Times report noted that Obama had concerns about former President Bill Clinton's role in the White House.

Previously, Howard Wolfson, who served as communications director for Clinton's presidential bid, said she was not being vetted by the Obama campaign for the vice presidential nomination.

In addition, a recent Pew Center Research poll found 55 percent of Democrats said they wanted to see Clinton selected as Obama's running mate. But only 37 percent of Obama's primary supporters expressed that view compared to 78 percent of those who backed Clinton in the Democratic nomination process.

(AP photo by Alex Brandon)