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On Thursday, a day after their former champion Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) announced she would officially end her campaign, more than a dozen New York Democrats rallied around Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential campaign. “We come here to endorse collectively the decision made by our fearless fighter, our great leader, Sen. Hillary Clinton,” said Rep. Charles Rangel, the longest-serving member of the New York congressional delegation and one of Clinton’s most prominent supporters. “It was a great campaign. And we are pleased that she intends to work for party unity and reach out to Sen. Obama.” Rangel said he and others had been on the Wednesday conference call in which Clinton said she would announce on Saturday her support for Obama. Speaking for the group, Rangel called Obama an “outstanding candidate.” “In our collective opinion, he has won the nomination,” Rangel said. The Ways and Means Committee chairman said that while Clinton would be in Washington on Saturday to formally back her former opponent, the delegation members would be in their respective districts urging their constituents to do the same. Rangel deflected questions about whether he and other Clinton supporters are hoping that Obama selects Clinton as his running mate. “I think she’d make a fantastic partner in government,” Rangel said. “But we haven’t polled the jury yet, so I don’t know,” he said, laughing. Earlier Thursday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) — who was absent from the press conference — said that he, too, thought an Obama-Clinton ticket would be strong, but said Obama should have time to make his own decision. Manu Raju contributed to this article. |
