Clinton fulfilling new role with gusto

HILLARY CLINTON likes to say she put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling that keeps a woman out of the White House. She shouldn't let Sarah Palin sneak through to become the first female vice president.

Ever since Barack Obama beat her to become the Democratic nominee, Clinton said she will do what it takes to help him win in November.

Obama didn't have to chase her, like Jimmy Carter chased Ted Kennedy in 1980 in an embarrassing quest for a picture of party unity. Clinton and Obama stood side by side in Unity, N.H., and Clinton called for Obama's nomination by acclimation from the convention floor in Denver.

"No way, no how, no McCain," she told Democrats in a forceful endorsement speech. She added "No Palin" after Republican John McCain picked the little-known, female governor of Alaska as his running mate.

Vanquished primary candidates usually go home to rest and ponder the high points and lows of their failed effort. Clinton, in contrast, raised more than $4 million for the Obama campaign and repeatedly urged her supporters to campaign for Obama and contribute to his cause. She hosted a reception in Denver for 250 of her donors and is scheduled to be in Chicago tonight for another fund-raising event. She has another fund-raising event scheduled for Sept. 22 in New York City, with the goal of raising $500,000.

The top women's groups that supported Clinton endorsed Obama and Clinton is urging all the unions that endorsed her in the primary to back Obama.

She is holding rallies in battleground states like Florida, New Hampshire, and Ohio. Staff members from Clinton's presidential campaign are now working to elect Obama and his running mate, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.

"She has a special role and she is fulfilling it with gusto," said Kathleen Strand, a Clinton spokesperson. It is a special role and it requires as much gusto as possible.

McCain-Palin is going straight for the Clinton vote, male and female. Only Clinton can tell those voters in a uniquely personal way why it's the wrong ticket for Clinton supporters.

As she said in Denver, "I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal healthcare, helping parents balance work and family and fighting for women's rights at home and around the world, to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people."

This presidential campaign isn't about the "Mommy Wars." It's about preemptive war. If Palin needs a refresher course on the "Bush Doctrine" and its consequences in Iraq and elsewhere around the world, Clinton has the benefit of hindsight to make it, woman-to-woman.

This election isn't about pant suits versus pencil skirts. It's about the differences between Democrats and Republicans on issues that matter: the economy, healthcare, education, and the future of the Supreme Court.

Clinton knows sexism is part of the American experience, especially the campaign experience. She was judged harshly on family, cackle, and clothes.

But she also knows that Obama wasn't calling Palin a "pig" anymore than McCain was calling her one, when the Arizona Republican used the expression "lipstick on a pig" to describe Clinton's healthcare proposal a year ago.

Clinton, whose own experience was challenged, also knows there's nothing wrong with asking Palin to account for her inexperience.

Some voters backed Clinton strictly because of gender. But most voted for a knowledgeable candidate who shared their beliefs; she just happened to be female.

Biden was correct when he said that Clinton is qualified to be president and might have been a better pick for vice president, given the Palin factor.

But Obama wasn't needy enough back in August to do what McCain did: choose a running mate who eclipses him on the campaign trail. The Biden selection made political sense, as well.

Today, Obama needs Clinton. He needs her to repeat often what she said to her supporters in Denver: "I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me?"

It's a good question for Clinton, too.

Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@globe.com.