Hillary Nails It; Endorses Obama

Moments ago, Senator Clinton officially announced her support for Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton made history over the past 16 months -- not just because she has broken barriers, but because she has inspired millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to causes like universal health care that make a difference in the lives of all Americans.

Please take a minute to thank her for her hard work and for supporting this campaign.
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Obama's website is displaying the above message and I wanted to include it here. You know how hard I can be on both Hillary and Bill Clinton, but today is the day for coming together, as Democrats and as human beings who want to join forces and defeat the negative forces that have been pulling us down for too long in so many critical ways. Now we need to unite behind our best hope for change at the national level, reach out to everyone who has been active in this extraordinary primary season, join our energies and work for the change door to door, phone call by phone call, dollar for dollar, up and down the ticket. Lives are literally in the balance.

I thought Hillary Clinton gave a soaring and inspiring concession speech today that hit all the right notes, gracefully and with dignity. She brought home the truly historic nature of her campaign, as well as that of Barack Obama, and articulated beautifully so many of the ideals and values we share as Democrats -- for equality, for justice, for the environment, for peace, for lifting one another up, for creativity and gumption, for moving humans forward into better ways of relating, working and being.

Of course given the often brutal nature of politics and power, as well as our flaws, foibles and fumbles, none of us lives up to these ideals all the time, or even most of the time. The important thing is that we try. And keep trying. That we continue to wring out the best we can from every situation, from every challenge. And work together despite our differences to replace fearmongering with hope this November. As Hillary said, echoing Obama's moving message: Yes We Can.

Of course the true test of HIllary's dedication to a presidential win for us this November will come in seeing what actions she puts behind her words, and the kind of commitment she urges her supporters to make to Obama as we go forward. But today, I feel relieved, optimistic, fired up and ready to go. I'm that corny. And that Democratic at my core.

Transcript. Videos of entire speech. New York Times live-blogging of event, with photos and quotes.

Excerpt of speech:

Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we'd had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court.

Imagine how far we could have come, how much we could have achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.

We cannot let this moment slip away. We have come too far and accomplished too much.

Now, the journey ahead will not be easy. Some will say we can't do it, that it's too hard, we're just not up to the task. But for as long as America has existed, it has been the American way to reject can't-do claims and to choose instead to stretch the boundaries of the possible through hard work, determination, and a pioneering spirit.

It is this belief, this optimism that Senator Obama and I share and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard. So today I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes, we can!

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