Clinton to supporters: ‘I want you to ask yourselves, ‘Were you in this campaign just for me?’’

DENVER – Hillary Rodham Clinton summoned millions of voters who supported her in the primaries to send Barack Obama to the White House Tuesday night, declaring in a Democratic National Convention speech that the man who defeated her “is my candidate and he must be our president.”

In a prime time address, the former first lady added, “We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.”

While her prepared remarks included a full-throated endorsement of Obama, she did not indicate whether she would have her name placed in nomination or seek a formal roll call of the states when the nomination is awarded by delegates Wednesday.

Calling herself a “proud supporter” of Barack Obama, she dismissed Republican John McCain with a few choice words.

“No way. No how. No McCain,” she said as the hall erupted in cheers.

“We don’t need four more years ... of the last eight years,” she added.

Like other failed candidates at conventions past, Clinton recalled her own quest for the White House.

“You taught me so much, you made me laugh and ... you even made me cry,” she said to supporters in the Pepsi Center and millions more watching on nationwide television.

“You allowed me to become part of your lives, and you became part of mine.”

“I want you to ask yourselves, ‘Were you in this campaign just for me?’” she asked.

Clinton was the featured speaker of the second night of the convention, and she followed a series of other Democrats to the podium who had ripped into Republican McCain as indifferent to the working class and cozy with big oil.

“If he’s the answer, then the question must be ridiculous,” New York Gov. David Paterson said of the GOP presidential candidate.

“Call the roll!” urged Ted Sorensen, a party elder eager to propel Obama toward the White House as the first black president.

Not yet.

Obama’s formal nomination was set for Wednesday night. First came Clinton, his tenacious rival in a riveting battle for the nomination, closing out her own history-making quest.

The convention hall was packed for her appearance, so much so that officials sealed the entrances.

Despite lingering unhappiness among some delegates nursing grievances over Clinton’s loss, party chairman Howard Dean declared the convention determined to make Obama the nation’s 44th president. “There is not a unity problem. If anyone doubts that, wait till you see Hillary Clinton’s speech,” he said.