Mondale stands by Clinton, calls for unity

Former Vice President Walter Mondale Wednesday called on Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) to settle their differences or risk losing the November election to the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

{mosads}Mondale, who is a superdelegate, reiterated his support for Clinton, but said, “The question now is, How do we get the party united? We have to wait until the last primaries are over on June 3, but I just hope we can get through this with some unity and dignity.”

Mondale, who made history as the Democratic nominee in 1984 by naming then-Rep. Geraldine Ferraro (N.Y.) as the first female nominee for vice president, indicated that Democrats may lose unless they settle the dispute over delegates from Michigan and Florida, who may not be seated because they violated party rules.

“I wish they could do something to resolve the Michigan and Florida issues, because we’ve got to be competitive in those states,” Mondale said.

Asked about reports that he is unhappy with the way Clinton has run her campaign, he said, “There are some things that happened that I didn’t like — some things on both sides — but that’s over now and I think she’s being careful.”

Asked if he plans to be in the Twin Cities when Republicans hold their national convention in August, Mondale said, “The funny thing is, my schedule has me out of town then.”