Hooley: ‘The next woman will walk taller because of Clinton’

DENVER -- Outgoing U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-West Linn) paid tribute to former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as she urged her fellow Clinton supporters to move past the divisive primaries and unite behind Barack Obama.

"I know many of you worked hard for Hillary. I did too," Hooley said at the Oregon delegation's breakfast Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention. "It will take years to fully understand what she did for our country. But the next woman that runs for president and becomes the Democratic nominee will be able to hold her head a little higher and walk a little taller because of Hillary Clinton."

Hooley also warned disaffected Clinton delegates not to stray into Republican presidential candidate John McCain's camp because, "John McCain is not a friend to women."

"We've been fighting for eight long years against anti-women legislation," Hooley said. "And we must make no mistake assuming John McCain is a moderate. He isn't. Is he different from George W. Bush? I don't think so."

Hooley is Oregon's only female representative on the federal level. She is not seeking re-election. State Sen. Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) and Mike Erickson (R-Lake Oswego) are vying to take her place in November.