Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama appeared today in Unity, New Hampshire, their first public appearance together since Clinton suspended her campaign earlier this month. Describing her former rival as an "unstoppable force of change," Clinton urged her supports to back Obama, obviously, saying, "To anyone who voted for me and is now considering not voting or voting for Senator (John) McCain, I strongly urge you to reconsider." The Senator went on to equate McCain with George Bush, In the end, Senator McCain and President Bush are like two sides of the same coin, and it doesn't amount to a whole lot of change. If you think we need a new course, a new agenda, then vote for Barack Obama and you will get the change that you need and deserve."

Obama took the stage soon after, again stressing the need for - you guessed it! - unity. The Senator also stressed the importance of Bill and Hillary Clinton's respective roles in his campaign:

We need them. We need them badly. Not just my campaign, but the American people need their service and their vision and their wisdom in the months and years to come because that's how we're going to bring about unity in the Democratic Party. And that's how we're going to bring about unity in America.

Talking Points Memo spliced together some highlights from today's event, which we've included below. Meanwhile, the politicos appeared together last night to woo Clinton donors over to Obama's team. And apparently with mixed reviews.

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Senator Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton will soon return to the campaign trail.

Mr. Clinton, who is currently in Europe, told reporters through a spokesperson today that he's "committed" to helping Barack Obama win the White House. Said Matt McKenna, "President Clinton is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States." Neither Clinton nor the Obama campaign would elaborate on what role Mr. Clinton will play in the general election.

Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, will appear with Obama on Friday in Unity, New Hampshire. And trust that the former presidential hopeful had a bit more to say than her husband:

We're going to work very hard to elect Sen. Obama our president. And we're going to work very hard to add to our numbers here in the Senate… I'm just hoping that we'll have a very significant victory this November… I am rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work.

While Senator Clinton's presence will help iron out remaining wrinkles in the party - and woo the ever-important women's vote, Bill will most likely be sent to blue collar communities to rustle of the "Reagan Democrats" who may be rethinking Republican rival John McCain.

There's no doubt that this year's primary season tested Democrats' patience. Not only did it drag on longer than a bad date, but the complex and often irksome superdelegate system - coupled with the Florida and Michigan debates - made this year's election seem more like a drama than a political process. Now that the Democrats have their nominee, Barack Obama, a gay man by the name of Will Bower hopes to dismantle months of hard work:

[Bower] said he helped establish the grassroots group Party Unity, My Ass this month to connect voters who are angry that Obama is the Democratic presidential nominee.

“I feel that Barack Obama is an anti-democratically chosen candidate,” he said. “I think it’s the worst of the system that has put him at the top of the ticket.”
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Among his chief complaints are that Obama’s campaign did not accept plans to allow new primary votes in Florida and Michigan after the states violated party rules and saw their primaries effectively nullified, and that the Democratic National Committee did not appropriately handle the delegate disputes in those states.
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“The most important issue to me is the democratic principle itself,” he said on Fox News. “I see this season as having put forth an anti-democratically elected candidate. So for me, that’s the biggest issue of all. And if we go down a path, where, you know, the parties don’t uphold democratic principles, then who’s going to uphold democratic principles? So that’s my biggest issue of all and that transcends Republican or Democrat.”

You know what? We hate to break it to you, Bower, but the United States doesn't uphold democratic principles. First of all, we don't have a proportional system, which means that our system's basically zero sum: you win or you lose, there's no power sharing and, thus, millions of people get counted out. It sucks, yes, but that's just the way it is. More importantly, however, is that the Democratic party, like all private organizations, has its own rules. Michigan and Florida's respective parties broke those rules. Barack Obama was simply playing by them. If people are still pissed about the primary's complicated process, they should just get out of the party, rather than trying to dismantle it.

If people really cared about the party, they would follow Hillary Clinton's advice and back Barack Obama. It seems, however, that some are simply too selfish to understand the nuance of our nation's political process.

David Mixner's been in the political fray for over forty years, since Martin Luther King inspired the burgeoning activist's social responsbility.

In the years that followed, Mixner fought battles great and small, worked inside campaigns, got arrested protesting unjust wars, joined the McGovern Commission - which rewrote the Democratic party's rules - and would later rally gays around his old friend Bill Clinton, whom Mixner met while crusading against the Vietnam War. Mixner went on to join Clinton's campaign and became the first openly gay man actively - and very publicly - involved in a presidential election.

Those were optimistic times, but Clinton would later break with Mixner by signing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which prohibits openly gay soldiers from serving in the military. Furious over Clinton's apparent betrayal, Mixner came out against the discriminatory policy, a move which ended up getting him booted from the inner circle. Of course, Mixner's always been more comfortable on the outside. In fact, he describes himself as "the best outsider on the inside."

Now, as we charge toward November, Mixner's hoping to bring the gays to another Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. During a recent conference call with the Senator's campaign, Mixner invoked the Clinton campaign, saying:

[This is] probably for the first time since the 1992 convention, we have an extraordinary opportunity to make history as a community. We have four months to do it, so we must gather and unite in our opposition to McCain and in an opportunity to really create something special in this country – not only for the country, but for ourselves and future generations of LGBT people.

Considering Mixner's mixed career, editor Andrew Belonsky chose to start this interview on a decidedly untraditional note…

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Hilary Rosen may very well be Wonder Woman.

The New Jersey-born activist acted as the Recording Industry Association of America's chairman for five years, acted lesbian social networking site Ourchart's president, served as Human Rights Campaign's interim executive director back in 2004 and currently serves as Huffington Post's political director, a gig she accepted earlier this year.

With all that experience under her belt, you can be sure Rosen, who previously endorsed Hillary Clinton's campaign, has scads to say about the current electoral climate, including the increasingly "blurred" lines between press and politics, her feelings on Clinton's departure, sexism in the press and how the lived experience shapes one's political views. And, thankfully, Rosen shared her thoughts - and many more - with our trusty editor.

Before getting into all of that, however, the duo start things off at the "beginning" of Rosen's queer career: her coming out. Read all about it, after the jump…

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Andrew Sullivan today reignites his long-standing feud with Human Rights Campaign.

Flamers on!

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Republican presidential candidate John McCain knows he needs to woo at least some of Hillary Clinton's supporters if he wants to win the White House. So, as a way of lending a hand, the kids over at 23/6 came up with some loyalty oaths for Clinton's most die-hard fans, like women, white dudes and, yes, the gays.

Sign away!

Well, she's done it. Senator Hillary Clinton suspended her presidential campaign on Saturday, throwing her support behind Barack Obama, who last week clinched the nomination. It was hard to imagine how Clinton could make a confident, believable push for Obama, but she pretty much hit the nail on the head:

I entered this race because I have an old-fashioned conviction that public service is about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams. I've had every opportunity and blessing in my own life, and I want the same for all Americans.

And until that day comes, you'll always find me on the front lines of democracy, fighting for the future. The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States.

Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him.

The next question is how Obama will use Hillary and Bill Clinton in his own bid for the White House. And, of course, whether Clinton's supporters get on the Obama band wagon.

Watch Mrs. Clinton's speech, after the jump…

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Barack Obama’s gay push continues.

In addition to releasing a gay pride message yesterday, the Senator’s campaign last night organized an impromptu conference call for about 1200 Democratic supporters. While ostensibly meant to inform the Democratic candidate’s constituents, the call served another, far more important purpose: rallying Senator Hillary Clinton’s supporters.

In fact, the former contender’s name arose within seconds of the call’s commencement, when Obama's deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand began, “It is a very important time for our country, our party, for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton.”

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