Maryland Democrats pledge unity to elect Obama, retire Clinton debt

Maryland Democrats are seeking to unify the party after a bruising primary, and Comptroller Peter Franchot is ready to put his money where his mouth is.

“I?m going to write a thousand-dollar check to the Clinton campaign, and I want every Obama supporter to do it” too, Franchot told a crowd of about 250 Democrats from the Baltimore region who gathered at Benjamin Banneker Park in Catonsville Saturday afternoon. Franchot was an early supporter of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the nomination, but as part of the effort to heal the primary wounds, Obama has committed to help New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pay off the more than $12 million in debt from her campaign.