DENVER (CNN) — Hillary Clinton's speech was a work-in-progress until the last minute, a Clinton aide tells CNN: speech-writers pulled an all-nighter and rushed it into the teleprompter. The video tribute to the New York senator was also a last-minute affair, and barely got done in time.

Tonight's speech was written by Lissa Muscatine, Jim Kennedy and chief speechwriter Jon Lovett, working closely with long-time Clinton advisors Maggie Williams and Cheryl Mills.

Clinton will make a 'compelling case' for Obama, her spokesman said.

(CNN) — In one of the most anticipated speeches of the week, Hillary Clinton will urge her backers — some of which remain wary of supporting Barack Obama — to unify behind the party's presumptive nominee.

Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines tells CNN the onetime rival of Obama will make a compelling case the Illinois senator must be the next President of the United States.

She will also express her appreciation for those who supported her primary bid and focus on the differences between Obama and McCain, not those between herself and the Illinois senator.

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) – Hillary Clinton will meet with her primary delegates Wednesday – and will likely release them to Barack Obama at the event, CNN confirms.

Two Democratic sources say the Clinton reception will take place at 1:15 p.m. MT, before that evening’s roll call vote.

"It’s an opportunity for Senator Clinton to see her delegates — many for the first time since the primaries ended, thank them for their hard work and support, and most importantly to encourage them to support and work for Senator Obama as strongly as she has in order to elect him in November," said Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines.

The timing of Clinton’s official call had been one of the final unresolved questions surrounding the Democratic convention, following the announcement earlier this month that the New York senator’s name would be placed in nomination, and the Sunday morning decision of the Credentials Committee to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations at full voting strength.

Clinton had long pressed for both states to have their full voting privileges restored; a few weeks ago, at a fundraiser, she seemed to suggest that placing her name in nomination at the convention in Denver might provide a “catharsis” for some of her supporters.

Clinton has been informed she will not be Obama's VP.

(CNN) – Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama has ruled out Senator Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate, a senior Democratic official told CNN on Friday night.

Clinton — Obama's main rival during the primary season — has been informed by Obama's campaign that she is not his choice to be his vice presidential candidate, the source said.

Obama has already made his decision, say sources.

(CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama called some people on his short-list for the vice presidential slot Thursday night to tell them he had not selected them as running mate, a highly placed Democratic party source told CNN.

The source did not say which people got the call.

Obama has told some other potential running mates over the last few weeks that he would not be choosing them.

Full story

(CNN) — Fred Baron, the finance chairman for the John Edwards presidential campaign, said in a Friday statement that he paid to help the woman Edwards had an extramarital affair with, and the former aide who was the alleged father of her child, move out of the former North Carolina senator’s home state.

“I decided independently to help two friends and former colleagues rebuild their lives when harassment by supermarket tabloids made it impossible for them to move forward on their own,” he said of his efforts to aid Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young.

“I did this of my own volition without the instruction or suggestion of anyone, and made a conscious decision not to tell anyone, including John Edwards, that assistance was provided,” he added. “The assistance was offered and accepted without condition. This is now and shall always remain a private matter between these individuals and me.”

Hunter and Young lived separately at an upscale development in Chapel Hill, and later in Santa Barbara, California.

Michelle Obama will be surrounded by a team of veteran aides.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is planning to beef up the team surrounding his wife Michelle Obama, to give her the kind of professional campaign veterans experienced in rapid response to negative attacks – the kind of staff that is usually only seen around an actual candidate, according to a senior aide.

The move is meant to address concerns within the campaign that Michelle Obama will be the target of significant attacks from conservatives this year. Their pre-emptive response is a team that one aide says is unprecedented in presidential politics. According to multiple aides, this team will work with Mrs. Obama to modify her stump speech — in part to include more stories from the voters she met during the primary season — in a bid to counter criticism by some conservatives that she is out of touch.

Former Kerry campaign Communications Director Stephanie Cutter has already been tapped as Mrs. Obama’s chief of staff, and additional staff will be hired in the coming weeks.

Aides say they expect Mrs. Obama to make occasional campaign stops over the next several weeks — including roundtables with military wives, and a womens’ event next week – before hitting the trail full time around July 4.

Read the rest of this entry »

Clinton and Obama are set to make their first post-primary season appearance next week.

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will make a joint public appearance next week for the first time since she ended her White House bid.

Clinton's national finance director, Jonathan Mantz, sent top donors an invitation Tuesday for a June 26 meeting in Washington, D.C. featuring both former rivals. Mantz also asked Clinton donors to show unity by giving Obama $2,300, the maximum donation allowable under federal campaign finance laws.

He added that Clinton "will do everything she can to unify the party and to elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States."

(CNN) — Ellen Malcom, founder of Emily's List and a major Clinton supporter, met with Obama campaign manager David Plouffe at campaign headquarters in Chicago Tuesday.

Malcom, who has warned Obama publicly that he has to do more work to attract blue-collar women, told CNN the meeting included Emily's List Executive Director Ellen Moran and Obama's deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand. She also said it lasted more than an hour, and was "great."

Several weeks ago, Malcolm released an angry statement terming NARAL's decision to endorse Obama over Hillary Clinton "tremendously disrespectful." Less than two weeks ago, she sent an e-mail to supporters in which she spoke positively of Obama, but said she was not quite over her "anger and grief" at Clinton's loss.

Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The news of Patti Solis Doyle’s hire by Barack Obama is not being well-received by many of those close to the New York senator and by former members of her campaign team, according to a longtime adviser, a top campaign staffer and several major donors.

Doyle, long rumored to be in talks with the Obama team about a position on the Illinois senator’s presidential campaign, was officially named the chief of staff for Obama’s future vice presidential pick on Monday.

According to one longtime adviser, the move is being seen by many of those close to Clinton as a message she will not be Obama’s vice presidential pick.

An aide to Obama insists the hire should not be read as indication of who their choice will be.

Read the rest of this entry »

Obama celebrated with Clinton supporters Wednesday night.

(CNN) — In what may be a sign the Democratic Party is already unifying behind Barack Obama, the Illinois senator celebrated his presidential primary victory Tuesday night with several of Hillary Clinton's supporters.

According to one participant, Minnesota City Council member Gary Schiff, Obama spent approximately 30 minutes with some of the New York senator’s most prominent backers in Minnesota, including elected officials, local activists, and fundraisers. A second source confirms the event was organized by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who is a co-chairman of Clinton's campaign.

Obama posed for pictures and promised to visit the state early and often as he now turns his attention to the general election and John McCain.

Sen. Clinton speaks at a Cuban social club, in Carolina, Puerto Rico, May 25.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton is spending her second straight weekend campaigning in Puerto Rico before the island territory's June 1 primary. It could be one of her last chances to boost her popular vote total.

For Clinton, it's a family affair — with both husband Bill and daughter Chelsea making the rounds.

"Chelsea and I and Hillary have now been to 42 of Puerto Rico's municipalities campaigning for the votes of the people of Puerto Rico," Bill Clinton said Thursday.

"She represents more Puerto Ricans than anyone in the world except someone who is elected here. Send the message back to the mainland on Sunday that Puerto Rico deserves to be considered and its potential is unlimited if only you had a genuine partner in the White House," he added.

She's counting on a strong showing on Sunday. With 55 delegates up for grabs Tuesday, it's the last big prize before the primaries end.

Full Story

WASHINGTON (CNN) — CNN has confirmed that former ABC News congressional correspondent and current National Journal contributing editor, Linda Douglass, will leave her publication to join the Obama campaign.

Douglass says she will serve as a senior strategist and senior spokesperson on the campaign's plane, in addition to other senior staff.

She assumes her new post next week.

Douglass joined National Journal Group in June 2007 and covers government, politics and the 2008 election, according to National Journal's Web site.

She is also a senior fellow with the John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.

Douglass won the 2000 National Press Foundation's Everett Dirksen Award for her coverage of Congress, and the 1990 Broadcast Journalist of the Year, from the Society of Professional Journalists, according to the site.

A response from the Obama campaign was not immediately available.

Update: In a press release to CNN Wednesday, Suzanne Clark, the president of National Journal Group, wrote: "Linda Douglass is a first rate talent.  She has made significant contributions to the National Journal Group - from breaking news and securing high profile interviewees and event panelists to launching our radio show."

"We are sad to see her go. She has done great work for our publications, helped us expand our multi-media presence and has been a true friend to her colleagues.  We wish her the best," Clark added.

(CNN) – CNN has learned that former first daughter Chelsea Clinton will be campaigning for her mother in Puerto Rico Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week.

The announcement comes on the heels of the Clinton campaign's admission that it is currently $20 million in debt and among increased talk by political pundits about when and how Sen. Hillary Clinton will exit the race and concede the Democratic presidential nomination to Sen. Barack Obama.

Puerto Rico holds its presidential primaries on June 1 so the decision to send Chelsea Clinton to the island appears to signal her mother's intention to remain in the race at least until early next month.

In her efforts to help her mother, Chelsea Clinton has lucked out by getting assigned to campaign in not one, but two tropical locales. The younger Clinton previously campaigned in Hawaii prior to that state's Democratic caucuses in February and this week's trip will be her second to Puerto Rico on her mother's behalf.