On Friday the economic news coming out of New York and Washington was unreservedly grim. On Saturday Hillary Clinton urged her supporters to rally behind the banner of Barack Obama and pledged to do all she can to help him win in November. These two developments will do much to unify the Democratic Party in this year's election.
Another surge in oil prices and bad news on employment and inflation combined to spur a huge sell-off on Wall Street and another fall in the value of the dollar. Oil was going for $139 a barrel, an all-time record and up an unprecedented $11 on the day. The official unemployment rate jumped 10% in May, to 5.5%, as 49,000 more jobs were lost. 8.55 million Americans are unemployed and another 5.23 million who want full-time work are working only part-time. The Dow lost over 390 points in Friday's trading.
Clinton incorporated the latest news on the recession into her speech this morning, telling the estimated 10,000 attendees and a national television audience that the country cannot "afford another four years of Republican mismanagement" of the economy. Her strong endorsement of Obama was designed to implore her supporters to come out for the Democratic ticket this fall rather than to harbor disappointment about her defeat in the nomination battle. Her remarks were enthusiastically received.
George W. Bush admitted the figures showed "slow economic growth" but, seemingly out of touch with reality, also said, "We're beginning to see signs that the stimulus may be working." John McCain agreed, stating, "The wrong change for our country would be an economic agenda based upon the policies of the past that advocate higher taxes. To help families at this critical time, we cannot afford to go backward as Senator Obama advocates."
Obama responded by terming the economic news "a reminder that working families continue to bear the brunt of the failed Bush economic policies that John McCain wants to continue. We can't afford John McCain's plan to spend billions of dollars on tax breaks for big corporations and C.E.O.'s."
The primaries showed Clinton to be a proven vote-getter among older women, Hispanics and working-class whites, the very groups Obama had the most difficulty winning over. A recent survey showed Obama already preferred by Hispanics 62% to 29% over McCain. If Clinton's ardent support for Obama can keep these important groups unified for Obama in the fall he must definitely be considered the favorite to win the election.
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