Note to Readers: Following this article is the full text of Senator Hillary Clinton's speech and Senator Barack Obama's comments to his supporters acknowledging her statement of support.

    Washington - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton brought an end to her campaign for the White House on Saturday with a rousing farewell to thousands of supporters here and an emotional and unequivocal call for her voters to get behind Senator Barack Obama, the man who defeated her for the Democratic nomination.

    For 28 minutes, standing alone on a stage in the historic National Building Museum, Mrs. Clinton spoke not only about the importance of electing Mr. Obama, but also the extent to which her campaign was a milestone for women seeking to become president. She urged women who had followed her campaign - who had turned out at her headquarters, flocked to her rallies and poured into the polls to vote for her - not to take the wrong lesson from her loss.

    "You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States," she said. "To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all of the way, especially the young people who put so much into this campaign, it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours."

    At that point the cheers, mostly from women, swelled so loud that Mrs. Clinton's remaining words could not be heard.

    Mrs. Clinton first mentioned Mr. Obama seven minutes into her speech. But when she did, she swept away any doubt - created by her speech on Tuesday night, after he won the nomination - that she had any hesitancy about endorsing him or about his qualifications to be president.

    "The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States," Mrs. Clinton said, her voice echoing across the stone walls of the building. "Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him."

    It was a dramatic - and at times theatrical - end to a candidacy that transfixed the country. Many of her supporters watched, some weeping, turning out to witness this latest milestone for the Clinton legacy.

    "I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me," Mrs. Clinton said. "I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I've had a front-row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit."

    "I want to take all our energy and all our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama as our next president of the United States," Mrs. Clinton said.

    Most in the crowd roared their approval when Mrs. Clinton mentioned Mr. Obama's name, though there were boos and jeers from the upper levels of the three-tiered room. Several of Mrs. Clinton's supporters tried to drown out those boos by clapping louder.

    Throughout the campaign, Mrs. Clinton steered away from presenting her candidacy in historic terms or in the context of the feminist moment. But not on Saturday. The theme was emphasized almost from the start of the speech to the emotional parting tableau where she raised the hands of her daughter, Chelsea, and her mother, Dorothy Rodham.

    "Now, think how much progress we've already made," she said. "When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions. Could a woman really serve as commander in chief? Well, I think we answered that one. Could an African-American really be our president? And Senator Obama has answered that one."

    Mrs. Clinton was as relaxed and expansive as she has been at any point on the campaign trail. In talking about all the reasons she thought Democrats should rally around Mr. Obama, she even lapsed into a preacher's cadence, ending each refrain with "and that's why we need to elect Barack Obama our president."

    She even adopted, without any hesitation, Mr. Obama's campaign theme, grinning broadly as she said: "It is this belief, this optimism that Senator Obama and I share and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard. So today I am standing with Senator Obama to say: 'Yes, we can!' "

    Yet the most intense and passionate moments of the speech came when Mrs. Clinton was talking about breaking barriers and the historic role that both she and Mr. Obama have played in an election that was a competition between an African-American and a woman.

    "Together, Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union," she said. "Now, on a personal note, when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for president, I always gave the same answer, that I was proud to be running as a woman, but I was running because I thought I'd be the best president. But I am a woman and, like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us."

    "I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter's future and a mother who wants to leave all children brighter tomorrows."

    Mr. Obama, responding to Mrs. Clinton's speech, paid particular tribute to that message in a statement thanking her for her support.

    "I honor her today for the valiant and historic campaign she has run," he said. "She shattered barriers on behalf of my daughters and women everywhere, who now know that there are no limits to their dreams."

    "Our party and our country are stronger because of the work she has done throughout her life, and I'm a better candidate for having had the privilege of competing with her in this campaign," he said.

    The day belonged only to Mrs. Clinton. She took the stage without an introduction, and in a break from the custom of the campaign trail, neither her husband nor her daughter spoke. Instead, they remained at the side of the stage, smiling and joining in the applause, though Mrs. Clinton, in bringing her speech to a close, paid a particularly strong tribute to her husband, whose reputation was hardly enhanced by this campaign.

    Before she arrived - about 45 minutes late - and after her speech ended and she slowly worked her way through the room, the sound system played Sister Sledge's "We Are Family," a title that may perhaps capture a bit of wishful thinking in Democratic circles these days.

    The event was in many ways a traditional end to a campaign that never had a traditional beginning: Mrs. Clinton announced her candidacy in January 2007 by posting an announcement on the Internet.

    People were lined up outside the museum hours before Mrs. Clinton was to speak; the campaign had sent e-mail messages to supporters to invite them to the event. The room was also filled with staff members - advance workers, press aides, strategists - and friends of the Clinton family. Thousands of people filled the stately hall, peering over the rails of the balconies surrounding the room.

    The somewhat ambiguous language of her speech - she said she would suspend her campaign - did not signal any kind of secret plan to jump back into the race. Rather, she was bowing to a legality. She needs to suspend rather than formally end her campaign to keep raising money to pay off her campaign debt in the months leading up to the convention.

    The speech was meant as a coda to the somewhat less conciliatory speech that she gave on Tuesday night. Again, she devoted much of her remarks to talking about her accomplishments in the campaign, her views on where the country should be heading and what the next president should do. But she specifically said that the only way to accomplish this was for Mr. Obama to win the election.

    As the temperature climbed to the 90s, parents brought their children to see Mrs. Clinton's departure from the race. As they waited for the speech to begin, Mrs. Clinton's supporters reminisced about the long campaign and a candidacy that seemed inevitable only a year ago.

    Hilary Deutsch, 43, brought her two boys, ages 9 and 12, to see what she called a piece of American history. A strong supporter of Mrs. Clinton from the start, Ms. Deutsch volunteered for the campaign from time to time but said she grew frustrated that Mr. Obama was running a better race.

    "I'm very disappointed - it is historic, a woman getting so close," said Ms. Deutsch, a pediatrician who lives near Washington. "You have to wonder what happened. Obviously, she didn't foresee the force of Obama."

    So would Ms. Deutsch be able to support Mr. Obama? "Over McCain? Are you kidding?" she said affirmatively.

    A few feet from where Mrs. Clinton spoke, Seth Goldstein stood with his 12-year-old daughter, Chloe. After volunteering for Mrs. Clinton in seven states, Mr. Goldstein said he wanted his daughter to see what he called a graceful departure.

    "She is leaving on her own terms," said Mr. Goldstein, 46. "She had a tremendous campaign. I'm sad she's leaving, but I think she'd make an excellent vice president."

    On Saturday, there seemed to be far less anger at Mr. Obama than a week ago at the Democratic Party's rules and bylaws committee meeting, which effectively closed the door on Mrs. Clinton's last best chance of winning the nomination.

    In conversations with those in the crowd, there was much less talk of Mr. Obama than of celebrating Mrs. Clinton's contributions to the presidential campaign and to history.

    Brittany Marshall, a 27-year-old architect, was among the exceptions. She switched her support from Mrs. Clinton to Mr. Obama sometime last year, she said, and came here hoping that he would make a surprise visit in the sake of party unity.

    "I thought Barack might come," Ms. Marshall confided, speaking softly and surrounded by a group of Clinton supporters. "But my friends in Chicago told me that he's there golfing today."

    --------

    Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting.

    SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON COMMENTS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

    The following are the remarks, as prepared, by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in her concession of the Democratic nomination race to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., on Saturday, June 7, 2008, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

    Thank you so much. Thank you all.

    Well, this isn't exactly the party I'd planned, but I sure like the company.

    I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked and sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors, who emailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, "See, you can be anything you want to be."

    To the young people like 13 year-old Ann Riddle from Mayfield, Ohio who had been saving for two years to go to Disney World, and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her Mom and volunteer there as well. To the veterans and the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans who traveled across the country and telling anyone who would listen why you supported me.

    To all those women in their 80s and their 90s born before women could vote who cast their votes for our campaign. I've told you before about Florence Steen of South Dakota, who was 88 years old, and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot. She passed away soon after, and under state law, her ballot didn't count. But her daughter later told a reporter, "My dad's an ornery old cowboy, and he didn't like it when he heard mom's vote wouldn't be counted. I don't think he had voted in 20 years. But he voted in place of my mom."

    To all those who voted for me, and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding. You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives and you have humbled me with your commitment to our country.

    18 million of you from all walks of life women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African-American and Caucasian, rich, poor and middle class, gay and straight you have stood strong with me. And I will continue to stand strong with you, every time, every place, and every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.

    Remember - we fought for the single mom with a young daughter, juggling work and school, who told me, "I'm doing it all to better myself for her." We fought for the woman who grabbed my hand, and asked me, "What are you going to do to make sure I have health care?" and began to cry because even though she works three jobs, she can't afford insurance. We fought for the young man in the Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said, "Take care of my buddies over there and then, will you please help take care of me?" We fought for all those who've lost jobs and health care, who can't afford gas or groceries or college, who have felt invisible to their president these last seven years.

    I entered this race because I have an old-fashioned conviction: that public service is about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams. I've had every opportunity and blessing in my own life and I want the same for all Americans. Until that day comes, you will always find me on the front lines of democracy fighting for the future.

    The way to continue our fight now to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

    Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him, and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

    I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I have had a front row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.

    In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American Dream. As a community organizer, in the state senate, as a United States Senator - he has dedicated himself to ensuring the dream is realized. And in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process and invested in our common future.

    Now when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House, and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity, and progress. And that's exactly what we're going to do by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.

    I understand that we all know this has been a tough fight. The Democratic Party is a family, and it's now time to restore the ties that bind us together and to come together around the ideals we share, the values we cherish, and the country we love.

    We may have started on separate journeys but today, our paths have merged. And we are all heading toward the same destination, united and more ready than ever to win in November and to turn our country around because so much is at stake.

    We all want an economy that sustains the American Dream, the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford that gas and those groceries and still have a little left over at the end of the month. An economy that lifts all of our people and ensures that our prosperity is broadly distributed and shared.

    We all want a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance. This isn't just an issue for me it is a passion and a cause and it is a fight I will continue until every single American is insured no exceptions, no excuses.

    We all want an America defined by deep and meaningful equality from civil rights to labor rights, from women's rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families.

    We all want to restore America's standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq and once again lead by the power of our values, and to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

    You know, I've been involved in politics and public life in one way or another for four decades. During those forty years, our country has voted ten times for President. Democrats won only three of those times. And the man who won two of those elections is with us today.

    We made tremendous progress during the 90s under a Democratic President, with a flourishing economy, and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world. Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court. Imagine how far we could've come, how much we could've achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.

    We cannot let this moment slip away. We have come too far and accomplished too much.

    Now the journey ahead will not be easy. Some will say we can't do it. That it's too hard. That we're just not up to the task. But for as long as America has existed, it has been the American way to reject "can't do" claims, and to choose instead to stretch the boundaries of the possible through hard work, determination, and a pioneering spirit.

    It is this belief, this optimism, that Senator Obama and I share, and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard.

    So today, I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can.

    Together we will work. We'll have to work hard to get universal health care. But on the day we live in an America where no child, no man, and no woman is without health insurance, we will live in a stronger America. That's why we need to help elect Barack Obama our President.

    We'll have to work hard to get back to fiscal responsibility and a strong middle class. But on the day we live in an America whose middle class is thriving and growing again, where all Americans, no matter where they live or where their ancestors came from, can earn a decent living, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must elect Barack Obama our President.

    We'll have to work hard to foster the innovation that makes us energy independent and lift the threat of global warming from our children's future. But on the day we live in an America fueled by renewable energy, we will live in a stronger America. That's why we have to help elect Barack Obama our President.

    We'll have to work hard to bring our troops home from Iraq, and get them the support they've earned by their service. But on the day we live in an America that's as loyal to our troops as they have been to us, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our President.

    This election is a turning point election and it is critical that we all understand what our choice really is. Will we go forward together or will we stall and slip backwards. Think how much progress we have already made. When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions:

    Could a woman really serve as Commander-in-Chief? Well, I think we answered that one.

    And could an African American really be our President? Senator Obama has answered that one.

    Together Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union.

    Now, on a personal note when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for President, I always gave the same answer: that I was proud to be running as a woman but I was running because I thought I'd be the best President. But I am a woman, and like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious.

    I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

    I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter's future and a mother who wants to lead all children to brighter tomorrows. To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect. Let us resolve and work toward achieving some very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the twenty-first century.

    You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.

    To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all the way especially the young people who put so much into this campaign it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you're knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on.

    As we gather here today in this historic magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.

    Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.

    Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes. Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot-soldiers who marched, protested and risked their lives to bring about the end to segregation and Jim Crow.

    Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote. Because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together. Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them, and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African American or a woman can yes, become President of the United States.

    When that day arrives and a woman takes the oath of office as our President, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream and that her dreams can come true in America. And all of you will know that because of your passion and hard work you helped pave the way for that day.

    So I want to say to my supporters, when you hear people saying or think to yourself "if only" or "what if," I say, "please don't go there." Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.

    Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be. And that is why I will work my heart out to make sure that Senator Obama is our next President and I hope and pray that all of you will join me in that effort.

    To my supporters and colleagues in Congress, to the governors and mayors, elected officials who stood with me, in good times and in bad, thank you for your strength and leadership. To my friends in our labor unions who stood strong every step of the way I thank you and pledge my support to you. To my friends, from every stage of my life your love and ongoing commitments sustain me every single day. To my family especially Bill and Chelsea and my mother, you mean the world to me and I thank you for all you have done. And to my extraordinary staff, volunteers and supporters, thank you for working those long, hard hours. Thank you for dropping everything leaving work or school traveling to places you'd never been, sometimes for months on end. And thanks to your families as well because your sacrifice was theirs too.

    All of you were there for me every step of the way. Being human, we are imperfect. That's why we need each other. To catch each other when we falter. To encourage each other when we lose heart. Some may lead; others may follow; but none of us can go it alone. The changes we're working for are changes that we can only accomplish together. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are rights that belong to each of us as individuals. But our lives, our freedom, our happiness, are best enjoyed, best protected, and best advanced when we do work together.

    That is what we will do now as we join forces with Senator Obama and his campaign. We will make history together as we write the next chapter in America's story. We will stand united for the values we hold dear, for the vision of progress we share, and for the country we love. There is nothing more American than that.

    And looking out at you today, I have never felt so blessed. The challenges that I have faced in this campaign are nothing compared to those that millions of Americans face every day in their own lives. So today, I'm going to count my blessings and keep on going. I'm going to keep doing what I was doing long before the cameras ever showed up and what I'll be doing long after they're gone: Working to give every American the same opportunities I had, and working to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up and achieve his or her God-given potential.

    I will do it with a heart filled with gratitude, with a deep and abiding love for our country and with nothing but optimism and confidence for the days ahead. This is now our time to do all that we can to make sure that in this election we add another Democratic president to that very small list of the last 40 years and that we take back our country and once again move with progress and commitment to the future.

    Thank you all and God bless you and God bless America.

    Barack Obama's Message to Supporters: Response to Clinton Support Speech

    Hillary Clinton announced her support for our campaign today.

    Senator Clinton made history over the past 16 months - not just because she has broken barriers, but because she has inspired millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to causes like universal health care that make a difference in the lives of hardworking Americans.

    Our party and our country are stronger because of the work she has done throughout her life, and I'm a better candidate for having had the privilege of competing with her.

    Senator Clinton will be invaluable to our efforts to win in November, and I look forward to campaigning alongside her to bring this country the change it so desperately needs.

    Hillary and her supporters are joining us at an urgent moment.

    It's going to require a new level of commitment from every single one of us to build a national campaign in the general election.

    And we're going win this election the right way - by growing our grassroots network of ordinary people giving only what they can afford.

    It's time for all of us to come together to take on John McCain in the general election. John McCain offers another four years of George Bush's policies, which our country simply cannot afford.

    To win, we must continue building an unprecedented organization in all 50 states. And that will only happen if we all work together, side-by-side.

    Thank you for joining this movement and supporting a new kind of politics.

    Together we can do more than just win an election. Together we can change this country, and we can change the world.

    And we are honored to have Hillary Clinton at our side as we do it.

All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.