Hillary bows out of presidential race

By Sima Kotecha
Newsbeat US reporter

Hillary Clinton has abandoned her bid to become the Democratic party's candidate in the American presidential elections. She's told her supporters they should now throw their weight behind Barack Obama. Newsbeat visited her home state of New York to find out what the locals think about their Senator's early exit from the race to take over the White House.

The blazing heat in the Big Apple is uncomfortable and no matter how many ice teas and lemonades people are gulping down, they're finding it impossible to fight the sweat.

It's not the only thing many of the city's inhabitants are struggling to deal with as Hillary's defeat has caused a bit of a stir.

The feeling of anger and frustration seems to be a popular one among her supporters.

I'm sure Obama will lose and we'll have another Republican in the White House Roshni Patel

Many are upset about the deal she got from the Florida and Michigan primaries.

She officially won the two States but only half the votes were counted after they were penalised for holding their elections early.

If all the votes had been included, the end result could have been different.

Hillary would have had a better chance of stopping Barack Obama becoming the Democratic nominee.

Voters' views

Roshni Patel, a 30-year-old doctor who works in downtown Manhattan, says Hilary shouldn't have dropped out.

He said: "She had a better shot at beating John McCain than Obama.

Hillary Clinton has officially ended 16 months of campaigning

"I'm sure Obama will lose and we'll have another Republican in the White House.

"Nobody in middle America is going to vote for a black man."

The former First Lady endorsed her Democratic colleague over the weekend.

She stood tall in pearls and a black jacket and told her audience to direct their energy into making sure Obama was the next President of the United States.

As she suspended her campaign live on American TV, 25-year-old Jackie Woods watched in her living room while playing with her nephew.

She said: "I choked up. I felt sad that this woman who has done so much for New York was now ending her bid for President.

"She would have been so amazing. I'm just not convinced by Obama."

Celebrating failure

Even though Hillary Clinton sang Obama's praises as she spoke at the National Building Museum in Washington, she didn't shy away from celebrating her achievements on the campaign trail.

She spoke about getting 18 million votes and how she's the only woman who's been this close to becoming a presidential nominee of the most powerful country in the world.

Barack Obama has paid tribute to Hillary Clinton's "valiant campaign"

Now the question is whether her supporters will back Obama instead.

She's asked them to but is that enough?

Many booed and did a thumbs down gesture as she went on about his passion and grit.

Roshni bit her lip when Newsbeat asked her if she was going to shift her vote from Clinton to Obama.

He said: "I not going to vote for McCain but that's all I know at this point. I might not vote at all."

Some suggest the only way Obama can get Clinton's supporters on side is by making her his Vice President.

Obama says he's not going to make any hasty decisions and Clinton says she doesn't want the position.

One thing is for sure though, the two of them need to convince the nation they're a team and not rivals as they have been over the last 16 months.

Myles Smyth is 29 and lives in Brooklyn.

He said: "Barack and Hillary don't seem to like each other. They're totally different.

"But what worries me is that Barack will be killed if he becomes president."