Clintons jump into campaign for Obama

By Beth Fouhy - Associated Press

WASHINGTON — When Bill and Hillary Clinton take the stage Sunday at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, it will be the launch of an active campaign for their former nemesis, Barack Obama, in the home stretch of the presidential race.

The former first couple is getting used to a new role: cheerleaders for Obama, who vanquished Hillary Clinton last spring in a Democratic primary contest for the ages.

Whatever resentment the Clintons might harbor seems to have been nudged aside as they campaign in earnest for the Democratic ticket.

The New York senator and the former president will appear with Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, at a rally Sunday in Scranton, a working-class town that has assumed an outsize role in the presidential race.

Biden was born in Scranton and lived there for several years as a child. Hillary Clinton's father grew up in the town and is buried there. Biden and Clinton have emphasized their Scranton roots to illustrate their connection to blue-collar voters.

After the rally, the Clintons will follow separate itineraries through presidential battleground states. They also will campaign on behalf of Democratic House and Senate candidates across the country.

Bill Clinton, who worked tirelessly for his wife during the primaries, seemed to take her loss more personally. He fully endorsed Obama at the Democratic convention, but he began stumping for the Illinois senator only recently.

After the Scranton rally, the former president was headed to Richmond and Roanoke, Va. He also planned events in the next few days in Ohio and Nevada, battleground states that he won in 1992 and 1996.

Hillary Clinton was scheduled to hold a fund-raiser for Obama on Sunday night in Philadelphia and planned a rally for him Monday in Montgomery County, a Philadelphia suburb rich in swing voters.

Clinton trounced Obama by 10 points in last spring's Pennsylvania primary, largely due to her strength among white working-class voters. Republican John McCain has campaigned actively in Pennsylvania, but recent polls show Obama opening up a comfortable lead.

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