WASHINGTON // The Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was expected to get a boost today when the former president Bill Clinton and his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, make a joint campaign appearances on his behalf. The nation's best known and most powerful Democrats for nearly two decades will be on the road for Mr Obama, who vanquished Mrs Clinton last spring in a bitter primary contest. The Clintons have apparently put that behind them and will stump for Mr Obama's election.
The Clintons are to appear with Mr Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, at a rally today in the working-class town of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The location is meaningful because Mr Biden was born in Scranton and lived there for several years as a child, while Mrs Clinton's father grew up in the town and is buried there. The former first couple later will follow separate itineraries, also campaigning for House and Senate candidates.
Yesterday, the Republican presidential hopeful John McCain toned down his rhetoric against Mr Obama, apparently concerned with angry sloganeering from supporters at some of his rallies - and criticism that he had gone too far. Mr Obama, in turn, made a slight nod to Mr McCain as he campaigned in Philadelphia and asked voters to have faith in him as the next president. Even as he criticised Mr McCain's economic proposals, Mr Obama acknowledged that the Republican nominee has begun to ask his supporters to temper their attacks on him.
"I appreciated his reminder that we can disagree while still being respectful of each other," Mr Obama told thousands of supporters at the first of four outdoor rallies in Philadelphia. Police estimated he drew more than 60,000 people to the four events. "Senator McCain has served this country with honour," Mr Obama said later. "He deserves our thanks for that." Mr McCain kept his speech at a rally in Davenport, Iowa, focused on the economy and his policies, a striking change from just days ago when his campaign redoubled its challenge to Mr Obama over his association with a former 1960s radical. Mr McCain also claimed that American voters did not really know Mr Obama and his "radical" views.
The tone at Mr McCain's and running mate Sarah Palin's events during the past week had been turning toward the sour as disappointed supporters see his presidential campaign lag against Mr Obama. Angry Republicans had shouted "terrorist" and "off with his head" at the mention of Mr Obama's connections to former Weather Underground member William Ayers, whose group bombed federal buildings in protest of the Vietnam War when Mr Obama was a child. The two had worked together on community projects in Chicago, and Mr Obama has denounced Mr Ayers' violent past.
On Friday during a town hall-style meeting in Lakeville, Minnesota, a supporter told Mr McCain that he feared what would happen if Mr Obama were elected. McCain drew boos when he defended his rival as a "decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States". *AP