Obama Team Courting Clinton Supporters

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and campaign aides are scouring Capitol Hill seeking support from Obama’s former rival for U.S. president, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Obama met Tuesday with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, many with long, friendly relationships with the Clintons, The Politico, a political news Web site, said. He’s expected to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, a third of whom backed Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

More meetings with other Democratic groups are on the schedule, Obama’s aides said.

We want to work closely with every single senator in there, said David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, after meeting with the Democratic Caucus. We want to have a dialogue. We don’t consider ourselves to be the repository of all wisdom.

Obama said he had a terrific conversation with the Hispanic caucus.

We’re all excited about the prospects of victory in November, he said. We’ll be unified going forward.

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., said the Hispanic group talked to Obama about the Hispanic vote and Clinton’s role in the campaign.

Clinton was not on Capitol Hill because she was taking time off to be with her family, the New York senator’s office said.