Obama, Clinton meet to unify supporters

The two met in Washington before Obama returned to his home in Chicago, Obama's communications director, Robert Gibbs, said. The meeting took place as Clinton was preparing to announce she is ending her campaign and giving her endorsement to Obama.

The candidates "had a productive discussion about the important work that needs to be done to succeed in November," the two campaigns said in joint statement e-mailed to reporters.

Neither campaign would provide details about the substance of the talks or say where they were held. Gibbs said it wasn't at Clinton's home in Washington, which was staked out by reporters.

Yesterday, both campaigns took steps to demonstrate they are ready to unite the party for the general election. Clinton distanced herself from efforts by some of her supporters to pressure Obama to pick her as his running mate.

Clinton "is not seeking the vice-presidency, and no one speaks for her but her," spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a written statement. "The choice here is Senator Obama's and his alone."

Obama also sought to cool down speculation about who he would choose for a running mate. "I've said before that Senator Clinton would be on anybody's short list," he told reporters in Bristol, Virginia. "But I am not going to discuss who is being considered, how they're being considered. We're just not going to talk about this anymore." Obama, 46, clinched the nomination two days ago when he amassed the required number of delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August. Clinton said she would help "rally the party" behind Obama in his campaign against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, an Arizona senator.

In his first action as the Democratic Party standard-bearer, Obama said the party would no longer accept campaign donations from federal lobbyists and political action committees.

He also took steps to reach out to Clinton supporters, praising her campaign yesterday and inviting assistance from her husband, Bill Clinton. The former president repeatedly attacked his wife's rival during the primaries, generating criticism from Obama's supporters.

"Bill Clinton is an enormous talent and I would welcome him campaigning for me," Obama said

Hillary Clinton's strengths in parts of the Democratic electorate have led many of her supporters to push for a joint ticket. Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television and a Clinton backer, this week sent a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn asking him to urge the Congressional Black Caucus to push Obama to pick Clinton as a running mate.

"Why take a risk?" Johnson said in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday.

"Senator Clinton delivered voters that Senator Obama did not."

While Johnson said Clinton "definitely would like to be vice-president if invited," Wolfson's statement sought to end talk that she is campaigning for the job. It didn't rule out her accepting the job if offered.

Another Clinton supporter, Lanny Davis, special counsel under President Bill Clinton, has begun an online petition to push for a joint ticket.

Clinton plans to end her campaign, which brought her closer than any woman in history to the US presidency, with an endorsement of Obama tomorrow.

"I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise," Clinton, 60, said in an e-mail to supporters early yesterday.