Obama and Clinton put on united front

Hillary Clinton’s name will join Barack Obama’s on a list of candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, a gesture of unity also aimed at mollifying her supporters, who Mr Obama needs as the race for the presidency tightens.

Less than two weeks before the Democratic convention, polls show a tight race between Mr Obama and Republican John McCain, who has caught up with his Democratic rival as he portrays him as a foreign policy and national security lightweight and a “celebrity” akin to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

Mr Obama is seeking to appeal to Mrs Clinton’s base of women and white working-class voters, some of whom are leaning toward Mr McCain, to try to pave the way to the White House.

Some of Mrs Clinton’s voters felt the New York senator’s White House bid was thwarted by sexism and media bias.

While polls show Mr Obama has won over a majority of her backers – however modestly – some simply do not like the first-term Illinois senator.

The announcement by the Clinton and Obama camps was a clear step in trying to bridge that divide by placing Clinton’s name in nomination at the August 25-28 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Delegates would then be allowed to cast a vote for Mrs Clinton in what would be a largely symbolic roll call vote.

A statement by the two campaigns said Mr Obama supported the move as “a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran and the fact that she was the first woman to compete in all of our nation’s primary contests”.

Earlier, Mr Obama gave both Mrs Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, prime speaking slots during the convention.

All that ensures an enormous presence for the couple who have been national fixtures in the Democratic Party since 1992.

Meanwhile, as Mr Obama spent time with his daughters during a holiday in Hawaii, the International Association of Fire Fighters endorsed him at their national convention in Las Vegas and the campaign turned to advertising as a way of fostering Mr Obama’s message.

Meanwhile, in between three Colorado fundraisers, Mr McCain attended an economic forum at the Aspen Institute, where he displayed the spontaneous tendency his aides have been largely successful in taming lately.

Mr McCain was scheduled to have no public events today, when he will meet with top aides, and only one on Saturday: a televised forum on faith, in California, where Mr Obama is to appear separately.