Obama, Clintons appear at civil rights shrine

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

SELMA, Alabama (Reuters) - Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, joined by former President Bill Clinton, courted black voters at a hallowed civil rights shrine on Sunday and said the movement's leaders had set the stage for their White House bids.

At a day-long series of events in the small town of Selma, Alabama, the trio of political stars commemorated the 42nd anniversary of the 1965 civil rights march, paying homage to the heroes of "Bloody Sunday" and calling for a new generation to take up the fight.

"I stand on the shoulders of giants," Obama, who hopes to become the first black president, said at a packed ceremony in the AME church used as a headquarters by civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King. "I'm here because somebody marched for freedom."

Clinton, in a simultaneous speech in a packed Baptist church less than a block away, said the voting rights won after the march had made possible her campaign to be the first woman president, as well as the runs by Obama and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who would be the first Hispanic president.

"I know where my chance came from, and I am grateful," Clinton said. "The people of Selma understood that voting matters."

Both services ended with the candidates linking arms with other speakers and joining the audience in singing the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome."

The two candidates later joined former President Clinton and thousands of others in walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where state troopers in 1965 violently attacked black marchers in a confrontation that drew national attention and helped lead to passage of voting rights legislation.

Crowds of onlookers estimated by police at about 10,000 pressed against about 1,000 marchers and thronged the route. Obama and the Clintons marched in the same line, separated by Congressmen John Lewis of Georgia and Artur Davis of Alabama, and had a brief conversation during the march.

INTENSE RIVALRY

The early campaign collision between Hillary Clinton and Obama, the top two contenders for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, was another sign of the budding intensity of their rivalry and the importance of their duel for black votes in the early primaries.

Obama had been scheduled to give the keynote address at the ceremonies for weeks. Clinton, refusing to cede any black support to Obama, decided to attend as well.

Both candidates said the march should be seen as a beginning and urged a new generation to pick up the torch. "We have a march to finish," Clinton said.

They praised each other at a rally outside the AME church before the march stepped off.

"I think it is so exciting that we have a candidate for president like Barack Obama who embodies all that was done right here 42 years ago," Clinton said.

Obama said he was glad Clinton is "here with us marching arm in arm. We don't have the time for other folks to distract us."

Bill Clinton was inducted in the Voting Rights Museum's Hall of Fame after the march in his first campaign appearance with his wife since she entered the White House race in January. Hillary Clinton did not speak but stood with Clinton during the ceremony.

"All the good speeches have been done today by Hillary and Sen. Obama -- I'm just bringing up the rear," he said.

Recent polls show Obama slicing Clinton's national lead and gaining ground among black voters as they become more familiar with the freshman Illinois senator. Clinton, a New York senator whose husband is hugely popular with black voters, had enjoyed big leads over Obama.

The event highlighted the potential importance of black voters, typically the most loyal Democratic constituency, in early 2008 primaries. In Alabama, which could hold its primary in early February 2008, blacks could constitute more than 40 percent of the total vote.