Some Clinton supporters slow to back Obama

WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is struggling to get some of former rival Hillary Clinton's supporters on board his campaign, observers say.

CNN reported Wednesday that the Obama camp has sought to assure Clinton supporters by having the New York senator appear with him at a handful of public events, including fundraisers this week.

Some of Clinton's fundraisers are insisting that before the open their wallets that they want Obama to help Clinton pay off her $22 million campaign debt, which includes the loans she made to her campaign.

Businesswoman Lynn Forester de Rothschild launched a Web site to put the pressure on Obama.

"We are being asked to embrace party unity without the fair representation of Hillary Clinton and her 18 million voters," she says on her Web site. "Party unity requires bilateral action. We ask Barack Obama and the (Democratic National Committee) to respond."

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who supported Clinton's primary race, said Obama will have to work to gain some of Clinton's fundraisers, CNN reported.

"It's not unexpected that they wouldn't just automatically shift over to Obama, because they're not the typical Democratic supporters that just automatically shift over," she said. "They need to be wooed. They need to be won over."