THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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WASHINGTON - When Bill and Hillary Clinton take the stage Sunday at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, it will be the launch of an active campaign for their former nemesis Barack Obama in the home stretch of the 2008 presidential race.

Once the country's best known and most powerful Democrats, the former first couple is getting used to a new role: cheerleaders for Obama, who vanquished Hillary Clinton last spring in a Democratic primary contest for the ages.

Whatever recriminations the Clintons may still harbour from that long battle seem to have been nudged aside as they campaign in earnest for the Democratic ticket.

The New York senator and the former president will appear with Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, at a rally Sunday in Scranton, a working class town that has assumed something of an outsize role in the presidential race.

Biden was born in Scranton and lived there for several years as a child, while Hillary Clinton's father grew up in the town and is buried there. Both Biden and Clinton have emphasized their Scranton roots to illustrate their connection to blue collar voters.

After the rally, the Clintons will follow separate itineraries through presidential battleground states. They will also campaign on behalf of Democratic House and Senate candidates across the country.

Bill Clinton, who worked tirelessly for his wife during the primaries, seemed to take her loss more personally. Nonetheless, he gave Obama his full-throated endorsement at the Democratic convention in August. But he began stumping for the Illinois senator only recently, appearing at fundraisers and headlining two major events in Florida earlier this month.