Hillary Clinton Quits Race to Support Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton will end her presidential bid on Saturday to support Barack Obama.

Hillary Rodham Clinton will end her historic bid this Saturday to become the first female president. It is still unclear whether she will share the Democratic ticket with Barack Obama.

Clinton prepared to declare that she is backing the Illinois senator after Democratic rival Barack Obama clinched the nomination with 2,118 delegates.

"I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama," Clinton told supporters on Thursday. "The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise."

Even before Clinton signaled she would exit, many of her supporters were already pressing their case for Obama to select her as his running mate.

However, Obama clearly indicated he intends to take his time making the vice presidential decision.

"We're not going to be rushed into it. I don't think Senator Clinton expects a quick decision and I don't even know that she's necessarily interested in that," Obama said.

Clinton had little choice but to end her quest, and sooner rather than later.

Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said Clinton will express her support for Obama at an event she is hosting Saturday in Washington, DC, thanking her supporters.

In addition, Clinton will urge once-warring Democrats to focus on the general election and defeating Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean and the Democratic congressional leadership released a statement urging the party to rally behind Obama.

Obama also announced he had named a three-person vice presidential vetting team that included Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President Kennedy.