WASHINGTON - Barack Obama said Friday that he will campaign with former rival Hillary Clinton next week, a step toward bringing together a Democratic party that was split by their combative primary fight.
And in a move that could help solidify Obama's standing among some still leery Democrats, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged Jewish voters in Florida to denounce the online rumours maintaining that Obama is secretly a Muslim -- claims that have lingered despite the candidate's repeated denials.
The efforts by Clinton and Bloomberg, a Jewish independent who has made no endorsement in the general election, come as Obama has been pressing to bring the party together ahead of the November matchup against Republican John McCain.
The veteran Arizona senator has repeatedly sought to cast Obama as soft on terror and naive about foreign policy - areas in which he professes to have greater experience.
Obama has countered by claiming McCain offers nothing more than a continuation of President George W. Bush's policies, and has recently met with foreign policy experts to chart a course he says will help bring the country closer again to allies alienated by the Bush administration.
With Friday's announcement about Clinton coming more than a week in advance, Obama's campaign was seeking to change the subject after a news cycle that has been dominated by his decision to reverse a pledge and reject public funding for the general election.
That choice opened him to up a flood of criticism and damaged his image as an idealistic candidate who would change the tenor of big-money Washington.
Obama's campaign said in a brief e-mail that the two senators will appear together for the first time on Friday, June 27, and that more details would be forthcoming.
Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination earlier this month after Obama secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination.
The party worries that some of her most ardent supporters -- among them women, working-class whites and Jews - might choose to stay home on election day in November, or even vote for McCain.
Bloomberg warned a Jewish group in Boca Raton, Fla., on Friday that online attempts to portray Obama as a shadowy Muslim with a hidden agenda often targets Jewish voters.
The deceptive campaign against Obama, who is Christian, "threatens to undo the enormous strides that Jews and Muslims have made together in this country," the New York mayor said.
The lies are "cloaked in concern for Israel," but are actually wedge politics that must be rejected, he said.
The billionaire had considered making his own run for the White House this year, but decided against it. He has said his endorsement and potential financial backing could still be up for grabs, and there has been occasional chatter about how he might make a good running mate for either Obama or McCain.
Obama has, in the past, reached out to Jewish voters, seeking to ease concerns that his apparent willingness to meet with some of the most ardent foes of the United States could spell trouble for Israel. Bloomberg's comments could help in that regard.
On Thursday, Obama drew criticism after announcing he would forgo public funds, a decision that allows him to continue his record-smashing fundraising.
The public funding system devised after the Watergate scandal is designed to reduce the influence of money in politics. It levels the playing field, as each candidate receives the same amount.
Accepting it, however, disqualifies a candidate from using private funds once he is officially chosen as a party's nominee, which will happen at the parties' conventions in August and September.
