Hillary Clinton returned to being “just a senator” Tuesday, but her immediate and arguably more important task will be uniting the Democratic Party, particularly its female voters, behind Barack Obama.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., a staunch Clinton backer and dean of the female senators, introduced the former presidential candidate to a standing ovation at the party’s closed-door weekly luncheon meeting that marked her first appearance in the Capitol since dropping out of the race and endorsing Obama earlier this month.
Clinton told the group she was “fired up and raring to go,” and said she was happy to return to being “just a senator,” according to Sen. Ben Nelson, of Nebraska.
Clinton also told the crowd she was planning to do all she could to get Obama elected president.
The former opponents will make their first joint appearance on Friday in Unity, N.H., a tiny town whose voters were evenly split in the state’s primary contest between Clinton and Obama with 107 votes apiece.
Obama is counting on Clinton to help him win the support of those who voted for her, particularly the millions of women who enthusiastically backed her campaign. Republican John McCain is also angling for Clinton’s female backers, some of whom are angry with the Obama campaign for shattering their hopes of seeing a woman in the White House.
Some women are waiting to hear more about Obama from Clinton, who has remained mostly silent since dropping out June 7.
“Obama and Hillary Clinton need to continue to have conversations about how to bring this party together,” said Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, who backed Clinton until the end of her campaign.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein defended Clinton’s weeks of silence.
“She’s been away, she deserved a rest, she took a rest,” Feinstein said, adding that Clinton’s endorsement speech “left no room for equivocation, for questions or anything else.”
Obama has begun accelerating efforts to win over female voters, meeting with female workers at a plant in New Mexico on Monday where he talked about growing up with a single mother and being the father of two daughters.
Recent polls show Obama ahead of McCain by double digits among female voters, and political experts do not expect McCain to be able to cut far into that lead.
Clinton told reporters after the luncheon that she plans to “work very hard” to get Obama elected and promised to implore her supporters to follow her lead.
“They really have to stay with us,” she said.
Veteran Democratic strategist Tad Devine said Clinton’s followers will watch the Unity event very closely.
“Voters will be able to tell if this is a real, bona fide endorsement,” Devine said. “If it is something short of that, then they will have more work to do. Her support is very critical to his success, and I think both of them recognize that.”
