Former rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to campaign together on Friday in the small New Hampshire town of Unity, their first joint appearance meant to ease tensions over the closely fought Democratic primary.

The location, announced on Monday, was chosen not only for the symbolism of its name, but because each candidate received exactly 107 votes there in the Jan. 8 primary that Clinton won. New Hampshire is a critical battleground state in the November election. Republican John McCain won the state's primary in his unsuccessful 2000 presidential bid and prevailed again this year.

Former President Bill Clinton does not plan to appear with his wife and Obama, ceding the spotlight to the two former foes.

The rally will be the day after Obama and Clinton meet privately on Thursday at a Washington hotel with former Clinton donors. The former first lady will introduce Obama to her financial backers who have been slow to embrace her one-time opponent.

Clinton, a New York senator, suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination earlier this month after Obama, an Illinois senator, secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination. "I endorse him and throw my full support behind him," she said at the time.

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said she will make the same pitch to her supporters that they should support Obama "with everything we still need to accomplish and with the stakes as high as they are."

Obama and Clinton spoke by phone Sunday night. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs on Monday confirmed the telephone conversation, but declined to give details.

McCain looks for VP mate

The choice for John McCain's running mate is such a mystery that few people even know who is helping in that search.

The Republican is leaning on a consummate behind-the-scenes player in Washington - attorney Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. - for this maximum-discretion, minimal-disclosure assignment. In Culvahouse, a one-time White House counsel to President Reagan, McCain gets someone who is not likely to be recognized outside the Washington area.

Culvahouse has been vetting people for positions at all levels of government for three decades.

McCain has turned to him in recent weeks as he sorts through a list of some 20 or more would-be No. 2s _ not that you'd know it. The Arizona senator, like every nominee-in-waiting, is demanding privacy and trying to keep the search under wraps,

McCain's advisers are under strict orders not to even discuss the search. McCain, at times, has violated his own rule, including mentioning he wanted to consult with Culvahouse and disclosing he had a preliminary names list.

When word leaked that three potentials - former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Florida Governor. Charlie Crist _ were invited to McCain's estate Arizona for Memorial Day weekend, aides insisted it was a social affair.

Democrat Barack Obama, too, has advocated a private process but, so far, it's been fairly public. Obama, for example, announced that a former Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign manager would be chief of staff to his yet-to-be-chosen running mate.

Obama also announced his search committee shortly after clinching the nomination - Jim Johnson, the former chairman of Fannie Mae, Eric Holder, a former deputy attorney general, and Caroline Kennedy. Within days, the committee went to Capitol Hill to consult with Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Under fire from Republicans and McCain, Johnson abruptly resigned after The Wall Street Journal reported he got home mortgages with help from the CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp. Holder, too, has faced a barrage of GOP attacks; he was the former Justice Department official who vetted President Clinton's oft-criticized 2001 pardon of financier Marc Rich.

The third member of Obama's team has a larger-than-life name as the daughter of former President Kennedy.

Conversely, Culvahouse's role in McCain's search has been largely shrouded in secrecy.

McCain aides won't confirm his position, but it's an open secret in GOP circles that while McCain and campaign manager Rick Davis are running the show, Culvahouse is closely involved the process.

Agencies

(China Daily 06/25/2008 page10)