Clinton, Trump rallying support

Both push party unity in D.C. talks

WASHINGTON — The presidential race shifted to the nation’s capital Friday, with Democrats executing a carefully orchestrated plan to unify their party around presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.

Her likely general election rival, Donald Trump, continued his monthslong effort to win over the Republican base, with events wooing top donors and evangelical voters.

With the primary contests all but over, a series of top Democrats formally announced their support for Clinton, headlined by the endorsement of President Barack Obama on Thursday.

Within hours, Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined

that effort, both backing Clinton and signaling to many of Sanders’ supporters that it’s time to unite around the party’s presumptive nominee.

Democrats in Washington are eager to unite their party against Trump and avoid a lingering intraparty spat.

Primary rival Bernie Sanders, who’s vowed to take his political revolution to the national Democratic convention in July, retreated Friday to his home in Burlington, Vermont, to plot his next steps.

Clinton, meanwhile, delivered her first speech since becoming the presumptive nominee, addressing advocates at Planned Parenthood, the women’s health organization and abortion provider. The nonprofit was a strong champion of Clinton in the primaries, giving her the first endorsement in its 100-year history.

Describing Trump as someone who “doesn’t hold women in high regard,” Clinton said her GOP rival would take the country back to “when abortion was illegal, women had far fewer options and life for too many women and girls was limited.”

Not long after Clinton spoke, Trump addressed a gathering of conservative evangelical voters at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference.

As he took the stage, Trump boasted of the support he received from evangelicals in the Republican primary and touted his opposition to abortion rights and commitment to religious freedom.

In a new dig against Clinton’s email scandal, Trump proposed “tough new ethics rules to restore dignity of the office of the secretary of state.” It was one of several examples of Trump’s burgeoning populist attacks against Clinton, whom he painted as indebted to big money. He said her immigration, education and trade policies “will be a crushing blow to all poor people in this country.”

Meanwhile, in his endorsement of Clinton, President Barack Obama sought to reassure Democrats that she shares their values and is ready for the job.

The president plans to campaign next week with Clinton in Green Bay, Wisconsin, marking his first major foray into the 2016 campaign.