Clinton says her husband determined to help Obama
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton brushed off suggestions on Wednesday that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, does not seem to share her enthusiasm for campaigning for Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama.
"He has said he will do whatever he can and whatever he is asked to do," Clinton said, a day after her husband's spokesman issued a one-sentence statement of support for Obama, who will face Republican John McCain in the November election.
The former president, who gave Obama's energy policy faint praise over the weekend, has not yet said in public that he would back Obama who narrowly defeated his wife for the party's presidential nomination in a rough-and-tumble campaign.
A Democratic leadership aide said the former two-term president appears to have had a more difficult time getting over the setback than his wife.
"But he'll get there," the aide said. "She's moving on quickly."
Hillary Clinton, who conceded defeat and endorsed Obama on June 7, will hold her first party unity event with the senator from Illinois on Friday in Unity, New Hampshire.
"It's understandable that the former president wouldn't want to upstage what, I think, is going to be a terrific unity event," Obama told reporters in Chicago when asked about Bill Clinton's low-key endorsement.
"If the question is 'do I want Bill Clinton campaigning for us, for the ticket leading into November?' the answer is absolutely yes," Obama said.
Hillary Clinton met privately on Wednesday with Democrats in the House of Representatives, a day after returning to Congress and being embraced by fellow Senate Democrats at a closed-door luncheon.
At both events, the Democratic senator from New York sought to rally support for Obama and end any rift that their battle for the Democratic nomination caused as they now head toward November's presidential and congressional elections.
Flanked by House Democratic leaders after Wednesday's meeting, Clinton said: "I'm 100 percent committed to doing everything I possibly can to make sure that Senator Obama is sworn in as the next president of the United States."
Asked about a perception that her husband does not seem to be as enthusiastic about campaigning for Obama, Clinton initially noted he was in London helping celebrate the 90th birthday of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
She then focused on the upcoming U.S. presidential election and said of her husband, "There will be a lot of work for all of us as Democrats to do, including him."
House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer said he was uncertain if the former president was having a tougher time than his wife in moving beyond the presidential primary.
"I don't know if that is the case," Hoyer said in a brief interview. "However, there's zero doubt in my mind Bill Clinton is going to enthusiastically campaign for Senator Obama."
"Why? Because Bill Clinton is a Democrat, he believes there is a gulf of differences between the policies pursued by Senator Obama and John McCain, and he cares," Hoyer said.
Obama said on Tuesday he had not yet spoken to the former president, but wants him to be part of his campaign. "He's as smart as they come. He's a great strategist," Obama said.
(Editing by Anthony Boadle)
