Clinton asking supporters to back Obama

Hi and welcome to a UPI news headline. I'm Kristin Volk on this Monday, the 9 day of June 2008. S...  More »

Hi and welcome to a UPI news headline. I'm Kristin Volk on this Monday, the 9 day of June 2008. Senator Hillary Clinton is now charged with a new task of making sure her supporters back Senator Barack Obama for president. Clinton officially ended her presidential campaign over the weekend in front of thousands of people. She told her crowd to put all of their energy, strength, and passion into helping elect Obama in November. In a recent CNN poll, 60 percent of Clinton voters say they would vote for Obama, but 17 percent said they would vote for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain. 22 percent said they wouldn't vote at all if Clinton weren't the nominee. Meanwhile, Senator Barack Obama is kicking off a two-week campaign swing today that will focus on the economy. His first stop is in North Carolina today where he's expected to compare John McCain's economic plan to Geoge Bush's. North Carolina is predominately a red state that hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 32 years. But the campaign says they're confident that they can make it a competitive state this year. On the Republican side, Senator John McCain has been emphasizing national security more than any other issue and has made it clear that he would like to fight the election primarily on that ground. Iran's supreme leader says the presence of American troops in Iraq is that country's biggest problem. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly made the comment to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a meeting earlier today. Khamenei said he's certain that the American dreams for Iraq won't materialize. U.S. and Iraqi officials are negotiating a security deal that would allow American forces to remain in that country beyond December 31, when their U.N. mandate expires. The hope that Big Brown may win horse-racing's so-called Triple Crown is now just a dream. Over the weekend, Big Brown finished last at the Belmont Stakes in New York. That was a highly unlikely spot for the horse that recently won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Last week, Big Brown was treated for a crack in his left hoof. It's not clear whether that affected him. The underdog Da'Tara won the weekend race. That's all for now. Go to upi.com for more on these stories and all of the day's news.  « Less