US:THE RANCOUR of an America divided against itself was temporarily pushed aside yesterday as politicians of all perspectives joined hands with the families of victims to honour the almost 3,000 people who died in the attacks on September 11th, 2001.
Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain agreed to suspend hostilities for the day, and appeared together at a silent wreath-laying ceremony at Ground Zero to commemorate the 2,751 people killed at the site of the Twin Towers.
The two shook hands and walked shoulder to shoulder down a ramp into the Ground Zero area, where they greeted police officers and firefighters at the memorial site. The two men each dropped roses into a flower-covered memorial pool and bowed their heads for about 15 seconds.
Despite efforts to strip the day's events of any hint of disunity, there were several reminders of the chasm that has opened up within America and between America and the world in the seven years since the attacks.
The sharpest of these was a speech by Donald Rumsfeld, the former defence secretary. He said of the 184 people who died in the Pentagon attack: "They fell side by side as Americans and make no mistake, it was because they were Americans that they were killed here in this place."
This was the last 9/11 commemoration of the Bush years and the president made a speech after Mr Rumsfeld's at the unveiling of a memorial to the victims of the Pentagon attack. "We pray you will find some comfort amid the peace of these grounds, knowing that our nation will always grieve with you," he told the victims' families.
Meanwhile, Mr Obama, who had a meeting with Bill Clinton ahead of the wreath-laying ceremony, made a belated personal appeal to the former president for advice on how to fight back against a resurgent Republican presidential campaign.
The lunchtime meeting in New York between the Democratic Party's two towering figures came amid growing despair at Mr Obama's slide in the polls in the past week. Democratic figures are openly expressing fears that he does not have a strategy to counter the rising appeal of Mr McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin.
Although Mr Clinton extravagantly praised Mr Obama in his speech to the Democratic convention in Denver last month, the relationship between the two has remained strained after Mr Obama's bitter Democratic primary campaign against Hillary Clinton earlier this year.
Yesterday's meeting, which took place at the headquarters of Mr Clinton's foundation in Harlem, was their first face-to-face encounter since the primary season ended in June. In an attempt to smooth the way for the meeting, Mr Obama said he saw parallels between his own campaign and Mr Clinton's in 1992: a relatively unknown politician fighting the Republicans against a backdrop of an ailing economy.
"I've got lunch with Bill Clinton, which I'm looking forward to," he told the David Letterman talk show on Wednesday night. "There's nobody smarter in politics and he is going to be campaigning for us over the next eight weeks, which I'm thrilled by, because the race that he ran in '92 was similar to what's taking place now."
Mr Clinton extended the lunch offer to Mr Obama about a week ago - before Sarah Palin began to energise the Republican base.
If they had met earlier it would have been characterised as Mr Obama meeting Mr Clinton from a position of strength, but it now adds to the sense of Mr Obama being on the defensive and needing help in putting his campaign back on course.
Mr Obama said Mr Clinton had been successful in reaching out to people in 1992 on the economy and he would like to use him in that role in this campaign.
Mrs Clinton has been campaigning for Mr Obama in battleground states. However, she has drawn a line against making personal attacks on Mrs Palin, Clinton insiders said. She is happy to attack the Republicans on policy, but thinks it is a strategic mistake to engage in personal criticism of Mrs Palin. But she defended Mr Obama who has been under attack for using the phrase "lipstick on a pig" to describe Mr McCain's recycled policies. Republicans have accused him of insulting Mrs Palin.
Mrs Clinton dismissed the notion at a press conference yesterday. "Barack has made this clear," she said. "It was in no way meant as an affront." While Mr Clinton will also go out on the trail for Mr Obama, the election timetable is narrowing. The former president has many commitments in the next few weeks, including his annual Global Initiative conference in New York this month.
A new opinion poll out yesterday showed Mr Obama's poll lead slipping in key states that will determine the election outcome: Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
A Quinnipiac University poll showed Mr McCain pulling away in Florida, with a lead of 50 per cent to Mr Obama's 43 per cent. The gap was narrowing in Pennsylvania, with Mr Obama on 48 per cent and Mr McCain on 45 per cent. Mr Obama maintained his lead in Ohio, 49 per cent to Mr McCain's 44 per cent.
There were signs this week of a concerted effort by Mr Obama's campaign to fight back against Republican attacks. A close adviser, Valerie Jarrett, told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that Mr Obama had told her he was not going to let Mrs Palin hijack media attention any longer.
Mr Obama's bad week became worse when the National Rifle Association stepped up opposition to him. The NRA, which has millions of US supporters sees Mr Obama as hostile towards gun ownership.
- (Guardian service)