Clinton calls for unity

Hillary Clinton -- her words scrutinized for every nuance, her voice for every inflection -- delivered a speech tonight seeking to strike a precarious balance.

She is simultaneously honoring her supporters and her own 18 million votes, but imploring them to transfer their allegiance to her one-time rival Barack Obama.

"I'm here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat, as a proud senator from New York, a proud American, and a proud supporter of Barack Obama," she said as delegates chanted, stood, and waved three-sided signs with "Hillary" on one side, "Obama" on another, and "Unity" on the third.

"It is time to take back the country we love, and whether you voted for me or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose," she said, with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, in a box up in the rafters with some of their closest allies.

"We are on the same team and none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines," she added. "This is a fight for the future and it is a fight we must win together."

She said that she had not worked 35 years to see progress squandered by another Republican in the White House.

"No way, no how, no McCain," she said.

"Barack Obama is my candidate, and he must be our president," Clinton added.

She thanked her supporters, including "my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits."

Clinton then went on to repeat many of her campaign pledges about domestic needs and foreign policy, before turning back to her endorsement of Obama.

"Those are reasons I ran for president -- and those are the reasons I am supporting Barack Obama for president.

She asked the delegates in the arena and voters watching on TV whether they were involved in the campaign "just for me" or to help Americans.

"This will not be easy, progress never is, but it will be impossible if we do not put a Democrat back in the White House," Clinton said.

Clinton said while Republican John McCain is a friend and colleague, "We don't need four more years of the last eight years," picking up the Democratic theme that McCain would continue President Bush's policies.

She criticized McCain's proposals on the economy, and said it makes sense for McCain and Bush to be in the Twin Cities for the Republican convention next week: "These days they're awfully hard to tell apart."

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responded, “Senator Clinton ran her presidential campaign making clear that Barack Obama is not prepared to lead as commander in chief. Nowhere tonight did she alter that assessment. Nowhere tonight did she say that Barack Obama is ready to lead. Millions of Hillary Clinton supporters and millions of Americans remain concerned about whether Barack Obama is ready to be president.”

Chelsea Clinton introduced her mother after narrating a video about her life and campaign, interspersed with snippets of speeches, rock music with women in the lyrics, and even a "Saturday Night Live" parody of her.

Chelsea Clinton said she is proud that "those 18 million cracks gave way and what opened up was a whole new world of possibility for all of us."