Bill Clinton: Obama wins 'pretty handily'

By Mark Silva

John McCain and Barack Obama may be coming together today for a rare and silent joint observation of what they share in common - a show of reverence for all those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 - but they made their way to Ground Zero with some high-profile appearances of their own.

Obama made a house call on Former President Bill Clinton at his offices in Harlem, where the two had lunch.

"I predict that Sen. Obama will win and win pretty handily,'' Clinton said.

The former president plans to campaign for Obama in Florida on Sept. 29 and promises more work as well - "We're putting him to work,'' Obama said of his host, thanking him for the prediction on the election outcome: "You can take it from the president of the United States. He knows a little something about politics.''
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Obama also issued a written statement about the day:

"On 9/11, Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose," he said.

He added a line that President Bush, who spoke at the dedication of a 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon 184 benches and reflecting pools for victims of the attack there -- might find a little uncomfortable: "Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 are still at large, and must be brought to justice.''

McCain made his own appearance at a simple ceremony in the remote, rural field near Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed - believed to have been brought down by some of the passengers who rushed the cockpit of the hijacked airliner.

McCain suggested that his own life may have been spared by the passengers' heroism - under the theory that the fourth hijacked airliner could have been bound for the U.S. Capitol that day.

The way to honor those who died is "to be as good an American as they were,'' McCain said. "We might fall short of their standard, but there's honor in the effort.''

McCain and Obama were to meet, but not speak, at a commemoration of the victims of the attack at Ground Zero this afternoon, and then appear together this evening at a forum on public service at Columbia University, Obama's alma mater.