Clinton Concedes, Endorses Obama

After 16 months of brutal campaigning for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton finally suspended her historic presidential campaign and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday.

As the most successful female presidential candidate in history, Clinton opened the door to millions of other women to run for the highest office in the country. "And although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it," she said.

She talked about how this campaign was a milestone for women and noted that having an African American win the nomination was also a milestone.

Clinton was criticized for ending her campaign on Tuesday night, when Obama secured enough delegates to claim the nomination. Many Democrats were concerned about whether she would fully or half-heartedly back Obama, and her overall tone in her concession speech and the effect it might have on party unity.

But she came through for Obama, giving him her full and unequivocal support in an effort to unite the party in November. "Today as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary campaign he has won. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him and I ask of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me," Clinton said from the National Building Museum in Washington.

"Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been." Clinton said. It truly was one of the best (if not the best) speech of her life, and she did what she had to do, however painful it might have been for her.

Here is the first part of her speech:



After all of their bitter fighting, this thing finally ended on a positive note, and if she follows through on her promises of uniting the party and doing whatever it takes to elect Obama, she will have healed the party and gotten her (positive) reputation back.

Even though she endorsed him in a dramatic fashion today, Obama is going to have a lot of work to do winning over her supporters, especially among women, working class whites, and Latinos. And they won't come on over to Obama in a massive exodus just because Clinton said they should.

In response to her speech, Obama issued a statement welcoming her support. "Obviously, I am thrilled and honored to have Senator Clinton's support. But more than that, I honor her today for the valiant and historic campaign she has run."

As I saw highlights from the speech, I wondered why Obama was not there with her. After all, it was such a powerful message having John Edwards there with Obama during his endorsement. But then I realized why: this is her moment. This is her chance to say goodbye to her millions of supporters, and it was most likely a very emotional day for her.

And I'm sure they'll be together on the campaign trail numerous times--VP or not.

So now, Obama has no other distractions in his fight against McCain. In a demonstration that he plans to alter the electoral map this election, Obama campaigned in Virginia earlier this week--which has not voted Democratic in 44 years--and then he plans to campaign in North Carolina--which hasn't voted Democratic in 32 years--and then off to Missouri, a state Bill Clinton carried in '96.

In this red state tour, he will also likely speak about the economic downturn, specifically the ever-rising gas prices (averaging $3.99 a gallon nationally) and unemployment (up to 5.5%), as well as the continued fear of a recession. However, this will be a difficult task because the economy is not Obama's strong suit.

Obama will also be upping his vetting process for possible running-mates in the coming months, as well as completing the transition from the primaries to the general election.