Clinton supporters want VP bid

New York - Hours after her agonising primary defeat, Hillary Clinton supporters lobbied on Wednesday to get their never-say-die champion onto Barack Obama's Democratic White House ticket.

The New York senator stoked the speculation, refusing to concede late Tuesday as Obama wrapped up the nomination and informing colleagues that she was open to running as his vice-presidential pick.

Powerful bargaining chip

Having banked nearly 18 million votes from the five-month primary campaign, Clinton told a rally here that her ardent supporters deserve "to be respected, to be heard and no longer to be invisible".

Those votes, amassed from blue-collar workers, women and Hispanics who proved resistant to Obama's charm, could represent a powerful bargaining chip in days to come.

Clinton gave every indication that her campaign for her policy passions would go on, after telling New York lawmakers on Tuesday that she was interested in the vice-president slot, according to aides.

Cabinet post another option

If not the vice-presidency, a major cabinet post in an Obama administration would give Clinton a stronger platform to pursue those aims than returning to Congress as a relatively junior senator.

One end-game question revolves around the $20m in debt that Clinton has racked up in her doomed quest for the White House nomination.

- AFP