Friends Remember Tubbs Jones

Obama, the Clintons Speak at Lawmaker's Memorial Service

DUBLIN, Ohio, Aug. 30 -- Presidential candidates rarely linger anywhere. But Sen. Barack Obama spent nearly four hours Saturday inside a Cleveland church, attending a memorial service for Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D).

He had impressive company. Former president Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill; and Michelle Obama also paid their respects to the late Democratic congresswoman, who died Aug. 20. Tubbs Jones was one of Hillary Clinton's most prominent African American supporters, an outspoken loyalist until the senator from New York dropped out of the race, when she switched to Obama.

Obama paid homage to the bond between Clinton and Tubbs Jones. "During this most recent contest, Stephanie and I started off on different sides. We would see each other, and she would say to me, 'This is what it means to be a friend' -- and all I could say is, 'I understand' -- and that is a testimony to her and the kind of person she was," Obama said.

The senator from Illinois sat between Clinton and Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson, with Bill Clinton on his wife's other side. The Democratic primary candidates drew big standing ovations, with both Clintons rising to cheer Obama. After Hillary Clinton spoke, Obama rose to pat her on the back, shake her hand and kiss her on the cheek.

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), who endorsed Clinton in the primaries, spoke of Tubbs Jones's actions in her final days to heal the Clinton-Obama rift, including flying back early from a vacation to meet with Obama in Cleveland. "Two leaders came together, and they talked, and she felt good about the conversation," Meek said.

Bill Clinton's tribute included a reference to Obama as he recalled a visit to Cleveland, in which he spent time greeting schoolchildren:

"There's a 6-year-old who looks at me and says, 'Are you really the president?' And I said, 'Yes, I am.' And he said, 'You're not dead yet.' And well, you know, he thought the president was George Washington or Thomas Jefferson -- a president was a dead white guy. Thanks to you, Senator, no one will ever think that is the definition again," Clinton said.

As the crowd roared, Hillary Clinton and Obama both smiled and leaned toward each other, apparently exchanging a few friendly words.