Hillary Clinton stepped her efforts to heal the rift in the Democratic Party last night with a warning to her supporters that it would be a "grave error" if they chose to vote for Republican John McCain over her rival Barack Obama come November. In a tacit acknowledgement of her rapidly dwindling presidential hopes and the divisive nature of what has been one of the dirtiest Democratic primary fights in recent years, Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that she would lend her full weight to Obama's likely presidential campaign. Clinton made her remarks after being asked by a viewer why she thought so many of her supporters say they would vote for McCain if Obama was the Democratic nominee. It would be a "terrible mistake," she warned, if they decided to do so.

"Anybody who has ever voted for me or voted for Barack has much more in common in terms of what we want to see happen in our country and in the world with the other than they do with John McCain," she said.

"I'm going to work my heart out for whoever our nominee is. Obviously, I'm still hoping to be that nominee, but I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that anyone who supported me ... understands what a grave error it would be not to vote for Senator Obama." (Ibid)