Clinton to End Presidential Bid, Endorse Obama

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05 June 2008

U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton says she will end her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Saturday and endorse rival Senator Barack Obama, who has now secured enough delegates to win the nomination.  VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington.

Some Clinton backers have gone so far as to mount a petition drive demanding Obama offer Clinton the vice presidential slot. But one prominent Clinton ally, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, thinks any effort to force Obama's hand will be counterproductive.

"You do not bargain with the presidential nominee, even if you are Hillary Clinton and you have 18 million votes. You do not bargain," Rendell said. 

Interviewed by U.S. television networks Wednesday, the Illinois senator repeatedly deflected questions about his running mate selection.

"It is premature to answer [that question]. We are going to go through a process," Obama said on CBS television. "We have a committee that is going to go through all the names [of potential vice presidential picks]. It is going to be deliberate. This is an important decision."

Clinton had no public events Thursday, while Obama is holding two campaign events in Virginia, a state that unusually votes Republican in presidential contests but which the Obama campaign thinks could fall in the Democratic column this year. John McCain is spending the day in the key battleground state of Florida.

McCain is proposing that he and Obama appear at weekly joint town hall meetings across the country between now and the November election. The Obama campaign says the idea is appealing, but that many details would have to be worked out in advance.