Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama share a laugh Friday at a campaign event in Unity, N.H. “Well, Unity is not only a beautiful place, as we can see. It’s a wonderful feeling, isn’t it?” Clinton said.

UNITY, N.H. — Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton came to this tiny town on Friday for their first public appearance after a bitter primary fight. Less certain was whether Unity would come to them.

“We had a spirited dialogue,” acknowledged Clinton, speaking first before a crowd of roughly 3,000, many laughing. She was referring to the presidential nomination campaign, not the extended time the former rivals spent together Friday en route to the premiere of what the Obama campaign hopes will be a long-running buddy movie, at least through November.

“That was the nicest way I could think of phrasing it,” Clinton added, to more laughter.

Unity was both the venue and the watchword of the heavily choreographed event, held on the grounds of an old elementary school adjoined by fields of wildflowers. Event organizers were hoping to evoke the feel of a latter-day Woodstock — only with better weather, more portable toilets and no skinny-dipping. It was left to the main acts, Obama and Clinton, to supply the peace and love.

“Unity is not only a beautiful place, as we can see. It’s a wonderful feeling, isn’t it?” Clinton said while Obama sat on a stool, nodding in agreement.

“I know firsthand how good she is, how tough she is, how passionate she is, how committed she is,” Obama said of his vanquished rival a few minutes later.

On Friday, they arrived simultaneously at an airport in Washington, where they exchanged a kiss and smiled as they stepped onto a chartered plane. They chatted through the 70-minute flight, sitting side by side, and continued the conversation during a 60-minute bus ride to Unity.

As has been well-chronicled, this remote town near the Vermont border was chosen not just for its Hollywood name, but also for the perfect split of votes cast in the New Hampshire primary — 107 each. “Divine intervention,” explained Jeanne Shaheen, a former New Hampshire governor and now a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Not all Clinton supporters sold

On June 8, the evening after Hillary Clinton conceded the Democratic presidential contest to Barack Obama, blogger Diane Mantouvalos organized a conference call with some 40 bloggers, political activists and other hardened loyalists. Five hours later, Mantouvalos had built a new Web site, JustSayNoDeal.com, which has become a clearinghouse for the renegade forces that are now confounding Democratic Party officials and Obama operatives.

Democratic leaders insist — and polls indicate — that the vast majority of Clinton supporters, including women, already have flocked to Obama or eventually will. But the effectiveness of the Internet as an organizing tool for dissent is creating concern and uncertainty about the scope and intensity of those unwilling to fall in line.

Several groups are planning marches in Denver. Others are organizing a Clinton write-in campaign or have switched to Republican John McCain.

— The Washington Post