Democrats to unite in Unity

Barack Obama announced this afternoon that his Democratic unity event with Hillary Clinton will be in the appropriately named Unity, N.H., on Friday.

Coincidentally, Obama's campaign said, both candidates received exactly 107 votes in the western New Hampshire town in the primary, which Clinton won in January to stay in the race.

It will be the first joint rally since Obama clinched the nomination June 3 and Clinton formally conceded and endorsed him on June 7. On Wednesday, the two are scheduled to appear in Washington with some of Clinton's major financial supporters.

Obama praised Clinton once again at an event today in New Mexico where he highlighted his support for equal pay for women.

"In the months and years ahead, I look forward to working with her and women across the country," he said.

The town will be besieged by supporters and media on Friday, vastly expanding the town's population of about 1,700, about three times as much as the first census in 1790. It is west of Concord, near Interstate 91.

There are also towns or cities named Unity in Illinois, Maine, Oregon, and Wisconsin. But the one in New Hampshire also has the advantage of being in a potentially crucial swing state in the November election.

"Their coming back to New Hampshire is a good sign for those of us who believe in the New Hampshire primary and the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire in the process," said state Senator Peter Burling, who lives in nearby Cornish.

UPDATE: Republicans, not surprisingly, are disputing the unity theme, pointing out that Clinton and other former primary rivals criticized Obama.

"Barack Obama is far from uniting Democrats behind his candidacy. For months, Democrats have pointed out the very real concerns Americans have with Barack Obama and no amount of ‘unity’ spin can undo the preference many Democrats have for John McCain," Blair Latoff, a Republican National Committee spokeswoman, said in a statement.