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(WKSU Media Kit )

	News Director M.L. Schultze

WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports:

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Roughly 1,500 people crowded into an Akron high school gym Sunday afternoon to hear former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's speech supporting Barack Obama. Some wore "Hillary for President" T-shirts and many acknowledged they were Clinton voters in the March primary. But they say they've made the transition to Obama and just wanted to hear Clinton affirm their choice.
Mary Alexander of Cuyahoga Falls is one Hillary supporter who will be voting for Obama in November because she feels he has a better chance than John McCain of straightening out what ails America. But her heart remains with Hillary.
"I thought her husband's administration was probably the best we've ever had," Alexander said. "And just as she's often said, 'What didn't people like about his administration? The prosperity or the peaceful times?' I think she'd have restored all that."
Maria Jones of North Canton said she was a little upset when Clinton lost the Democratic nomination, but she quickly got on the Obama train. She's excited about the race and hopes to inspire others to become part of the political process. A hockey mom herself, she said that Sarah Palin didn't tempt her away from Obama.
"I definitely believe in what the Democratic Party has to say, and I don't believe that Sarah Palin represents what I believe in," Jones said.
Jones, a retired Air Force veteran, said Obama's pick of Senator Joe Biden for vice president is another reason she feels good voting for Obama. Biden was Jones' senator while she was stationed at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. She said she was disappointed Hillary didn't get the nod, but was "really excited when he picked Joe because Joe was wonderful to us as military people. I know how he works and I know he's a man of the people."
In her roughly 20-minute speech, Clinton affirmed the choices of those like Alexander and Jones and called on them to back up their choices with action.
"I want you to join this historic endeavor. Take your hard work and your determination and put it behind the candidacy that represents the best hope for the future," Clinton said.
Speaking of Obama, she said she's "seen his passion and determination and his grace and his grit. He has lived the American dream."
Senator Clinton also quickly dismissed Senator McCain as an extension of President Bush, saying he doesn't perceive that the number of Americans without health insurance is a crisis, and that he wants to privatize Social Security, and extend more tax breaks to corporations.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is due at a private fund-raiser at a country club in Stark County today and she and McCain are due at a public rally Tuesday afternoon near Youngstown.