In a speech that both praised rival Barack Obama and highlighted her own campaign accomplishments, Clinton thanked the millions of voters who picked her as the most ready to occupy the White House. She congratulated Obama and his supporters, acknowledging that he was able to inspire millions of Americans.

"Our party and our democracy are more vibrant as a result," she said

An air of resignation — and disbelief — enveloped the campaign long before the polls closed in South Dakota and Montana as the party leaders known as superdelegates lined up behind Obama.

"I'm bewildered," said Mark Aronchick, a Philadelphia attorney and top Clinton fundraiser, as he headed to Manhattan for a meeting with Clinton and other big donors.

"I've never seen in my lifetime somebody more ready to be president and more capable," said Aronchick, who worked on Democrat John Kerry's 2004 campaign. "It's astonishing that we have come to this place where one of our best and brightest" will not be the party's standard-bearer.

Allida Black was urging superdelegates early in the day not to turn away from Clinton. She is the co-founder of WomenCount PAC, a new political action committee that has run full-page newspaper ads supporting Clinton's candidacy.

Only a berth for Clinton on the presidential ticket would heal "the seismic split in this coalition," Black said. Clinton herself told New York lawmakers early in the day that she would be "open" to being Obama's vice presidential pick.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez, a New York Democrat, said Clinton would help Hispanic voters that have eluded Obama align behind the Democratic banner in the fall.

Steve Grossman, another Clinton fundraiser and former Democratic National Committee chairman, predicted the party's rift would heal quickly. "Her statesmanship during the hours and days ahead will knit together what people believe is a fractured party," he said. "Republicans won't have much to cheer about."

Presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, father of three daughters, said he was indebted to Clinton "for inspiring millions of women." Even voters who sided with Obama expressed admiration for her. Armen Janjigian, a teacher in Sioux Falls, S.D., said he finally decided to vote for Obama after spending an hour on the phone Monday night with an Obama aide.

But Janjigian praised Clinton for putting "on a good fight," calling her a "party leader and an enormous influence."

Still, the fact that Clinton came closer to claiming a major party's presidential nomination than any woman before her was bittersweet for some. Peter Kauffman and his wife, Kara Hughes, who met as staffers on Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign, brought their young daughters to Tuesday night's gathering at Baruch College.

"We want to show our daughters how inspiring she is and how she's broken down barriers," Kauffman said.

Janet Rosen said she would have liked for her granddaughters "to have started their young lives with a woman as president. I'm taking it very personally."

If Clinton were to plunge back into the Senate, she could emerge as a powerhouse in the tradition of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, said Donald Ritchie, the Senate's associate historian. After his 1980 loss to Jimmy Carter, Kennedy quickly established a reputation for bipartisanship that elevated his stature as a legislator.

"Some senators do discover that there is life after a presidential campaign," Ritchie said.

Contributing: Elizabeth Gorder of the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D.

		Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks during her South Dakota and Montana primary night event in New York on Tuesday. By Seth Wenig, AP

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