Sen. Christopher Dodd endorsed one-time presidential rival Barack Obama on Tuesday and said it is time for Democrats to join forces to defeat the Republicans in the fall campaign.

"I don't want a campaign that is divisive here, and there's a danger in that," Dodd said, although he denied he was nudging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to end her candidacy.

Dodd is the first of the Democratic campaign dropouts to endorse another candidate.

Dodd said he spoke with Clinton on Monday evening to tell her of his decision. Clinton's hopes to use Ohio as a firewall in her falling campaign suffered another blow Tuesday when former Cleveland Mayor Michael White, who had earlier supported Clinton, also endorsed Obama.

A MCCAIN DISCLAIMER

Republican John McCain quickly denounced the comments of a radio talk show host who, while warming up a campaign crowd, referred repeatedly to Barack Hussein Obama and called the Democratic presidential candidate a "hack, Chicago-style" politician.

Hussein is Obama's middle name, but talk show host Bill Cunningham used it three times as he addressed the crowd before McCain's appearance.

McCain wasn't on stage or, he says, in the building when Cunningham made the comments, but he quickly distanced himself from the radio talk show host after finishing his speech at Memorial Hall in downtown Cincinnati.

"I apologize for it," McCain said. "I did not know about these remarks, but I take responsibility for them. I repudiate them."

McCain said he didn't hear the comments and has never met Cunningham, but "I will certainly make sure that nothing like that happens again."

ASSOCIATED PRESS