Related links

Today`s Top Picks

Obama warned not to pick Clinton as deputyPope`s visit `a boost to brothels`

THE sex industry is expected to be blessed with an increase in customers thanks to the most unlikely of sources - World Youth Day.

Font size: +-

Send this article:PrintEmail

Have Your Say

We welcome your comments on this story. Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Please provide your full name. We also require a working email address - not for publication, but for verification. The location field is optional.Read our publication guidelines.

Submit your feedback here:

(So you don`t have to retype your details each timeyou send feedback.)

Search for more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Click here

Also in News

Video

Obama warned not to pick Clinton as deputyWatch this Video NOW!
Grinspoon music live

GRINSPOON play live to wild crowds in country New South Wales.

Latest videos

More Video

Advertisement

Planning a Holiday? - Visit our Europe section for the latest destination offers!
 
Overflowing with benefitsExperience life the Platinum Way With American Express Platinum
 
Online Auctions Online auctions on a range of big brands. Bid Now! Dontmissout.com.au
 
Meet Single WomenView photos of single women near you at match.com. Start flirting now!
 
Visit Business Sense For the latest business news, managerial insights & more.
 
WIN a stylish ASUS U1E notebook visit site
 
Tools

  • Don`t make Clinton deputy, says Jimmy Carter
  • Obama appoints team to choose running mate
  • Palestine criticises Obama`s support for Isreal

BARACK Obama has turned his focus to the five-month general-election fight for the White House against Republican John McCain and announced a three-member team to head his search for a running mate.

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John Kennedy, will vet prospective running mates for Senator Obama along with former deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson, who performed the same task for John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984.

Near the top of the agenda in their search will be questions about a possible teaming with Hillary Clinton, the former first lady who has indicated interest in the job after her presidential bid fell short.

"We`re going to be having a conversation in coming weeks, and I`m very confident how unified the Democratic Party`s going to be to win in November," Senator Obama told reporters when asked about Senator Clinton.

However former US president Jimmy Carter said making Senator Clinton his running mate would be disasterous.

It "would be the worst mistake that could be made``, Carter told The Guardian. "That would just accumulate the negative aspects of both candidates.``

Gallery In pictures: Life `n` times of Obama
Related story Opinion: Obama needs Clinton in his corner
Related story Latest: US presidential election
Blogs Blog: The highs and lows of Obama`s campaign
Gallery In pictures: Barack Obama`s election campaign
Blogs Reaction: What the web is saying
Blogs Match-up: Can Obama beat McCain?

Senator Obama, the first black candidate to lead a major US party into a White House race, began the task of unifying a fractured party the day after clinching the nomination.

Senator Clinton refused to concede but called it "an honour" to have competed against him.

Senator McCain proposed that Senator Obama join him for a series of joint town-hall meetings around the country during the summer.

Senator Obama`s campaign manager called the idea "appealing" but proposed format changes and made no immediate commitment.

Senator Obama returned to Capitol Hill to a hero`s welcome from Democrats who swarmed to shake his hand, pat his back and hug him.

He gained more support as the party focused on the November election.

"Our focus now is on victory in November and on giving Barack Obama every ounce of our support," eight previously uncommitted Democratic senators said in a statement.

"In order to do that, we are going to spend the next days and weeks leading up to the convention working toward one goal: unity in November."

Blogs Blog: How Hillary lost the nomination
Gallery In pictures: Hillary Clinton`s election campaign
Audio Audio: On the scene at the Clinton rally

Democratic leaders urged remaining undecided delegates to the August convention to make up their minds by Friday, but few tried to hurry Senator Clinton out of the race.

"That`s up to her," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of a timeline for Senator Clinton to end her race.

"She been through a very long and rigorous campaign. She`s done beautifully. She has to wind down in her own time."

Senator Obama took aim at Senator McCain for his staunch support of the Iraq war during a speech to a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington, saying the Arizona senator "refuses to understand or acknowledge the failure of the policy that he would continue".

"He criticises my willingness to use strong diplomacy, but offers only an alternate reality - one where the war in Iraq has somehow put Iran on its heels," he said.

"Senator McCain offers a false choice: stay the course in Iraq, or cede the region to Iran."

In his speech he reaffirmed his support for Israel and said Jerusalem should remain Israel`s "undivided`` capital, a move which drew widespread condemnation from both sides of the Palestinian divide.

The Islamist Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip slammed the speech, saying it confirmed US "hostility`` to Arabs and Muslims.

"We consider the statements of Obama to be further evidence of the hostility of the American administration to Arabs and Muslims,`` Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.

In the same speech Senator Obama tried to smooth relations with Senator Clinton after their long and sometimes bitter nominating fight, calling her an "extraordinary candidate and extraordinary public servant."

Senator Clinton, in a later speech to the same group, complimented Senator Obama but offered no signs of when she would end her campaign.

"It has been an honour to contest these primaries with him.
It is an honour to call him my friend," she said. "I know that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel."

Senator Clinton`s supporters turned up the pressure for the New York senator to be named as Senator Obama`s No 2.

Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, said he wrote to the Congressional Black Caucus urging members to push Senator Obama to choose Senator Clinton.

But Senator Obama`s campaign said the search process was just beginning.

"Senator Obama is pleased to have three talented and dedicated individuals managing this rigorous process," spokesman Bill Burton said.

"He will work closely with them in the coming weeks but ultimately this will be his decision and his alone."

The victory by Senator Obama, son of a black Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in US history.

It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement and followed one of the closest and longest nomination fights in recent US political history.

Senator Obama clinched the win after a wave of uncommitted delegates announced their support yesterday, pushing his total well past the 2118 needed to win.

Senator Clinton, who would have been the first woman nominee in US political history, won more than 1900 delegates.

Senator Obama`s achievement drew praise from a Republican, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the highest-ranking black person in President George W Bush`s cabinet.

"It`s a country that has overcome many, many, now years, decades of, actually a couple of centuries, of trying to make good on its principles," Rice said.

"And I think that what we`re seeing is, an extraordinary expression of the fact that `we the people` is beginning to mean all of us," Rice said, a reference to the opening line of the US Constitution.

- With AFP

NEWS.com.au is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Get desktop alerts for major breaking news events now!

Related links

Today`s Top Picks

Pope`s visit `a boost to brothels`

THE sex industry is expected to be blessed with an increase in customers thanks to the most unlikely of sources - World Youth Day.

Font size: +-

Send this article:PrintEmail

Have Your Say

We welcome your comments on this story. Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Please provide your full name. We also require a working email address - not for publication, but for verification. The location field is optional.Read our publication guidelines.

Submit your feedback here:

(So you don`t have to retype your details each timeyou send feedback.)

Search for more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Click here

Also in News

Video

Grinspoon music liveWatch this Video NOW!
Grinspoon music live

GRINSPOON play live to wild crowds in country New South Wales.

Latest videos

More Video

Advertisement

Planning a Holiday? - Visit our Europe section for the latest destination offers!
 
Overflowing with benefitsExperience life the Platinum Way With American Express Platinum
 
Online Auctions Online auctions on a range of big brands. Bid Now! Dontmissout.com.au
 
Meet Single WomenView photos of single women near you at match.com. Start flirting now!
 
Visit Business Sense For the latest business news, managerial insights & more.
 
WIN a stylish ASUS U1E notebook visit site
 
Tools
Obama warned not to pick Clinton as deputy   06/05/2008
12. 2008
Mo Tu Wd Th Fr Sa Su
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031


Google


Categories: News Headlines Business News Entertaiment News Hi-tech & Science Sport
Global: Americas Europe Africa Australia Asia Middle East