Clinton-Obama to Campaign Together

By Rick Moran

You have to wonder what will be going through each of their minds as they appear together on stage. Politics watchers will measure every move by each of them, looking for dissension or for signs of the intense dislike each holds for the other.

In fact, that might end up being the story of this campaign stunt rather than an outreach effort by Obama to women:

As Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared to return to life in the Senate and announced that she will campaign with Sen. Barack Obama in New Hampshire on Friday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee began reaching out to female voters who had formed the backbone of Clinton's support in the primary season.

The Obama-Clinton event will take place in the town of Unity, in the southwest corner of a swing state that Obama hopes to carry in November. The symbolism goes beyond the town's name, as Clinton and Obama each won 107 votes there in the January primary.

But New Hampshire is also the state in which Clinton first demonstrated her strong connection with older, working-class women, a group that Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, is now working hard to attract by lauding Clinton and depicting Obama as inexperienced.

At a town hall meeting here on Monday, Obama praised the women responsible for his upbringing and outlined his record of pushing to address issues important to women. The only men in the room were reporters, campaign aides and Secret Service agents.

First of all, is there anyone besides a liberal Democrat who would actually think holding a joint appearance event like this in a town called "Unity" isn't overdoing the symbolism just a bit?

No matter. Obama's problems with the working class are still evident in that John McCain continues to siphon huge numbers of these voters away from the Democrat according to recent polls. Obama makes up for this by rolling up large margins among blacks and young folk but it is very difficult to see how he can win states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and perhaps even New Hampshire without doing a lot better among one of the Democrat's core constituencies - Reagan Democrats.

Can Hillary help? Certainly - if she has a mind to. It is unclear at this point how truly committed Clinton is to the Obama cause. We should get an idea at this joint appearance.