NEW YORK -- Appearing with supporters at a fundraiser in New York City, Hillary Clinton finished her speech by imploring them: "Let's keep going. Stay with me. This has been a great adventure -- let's make history."

At the same time, her speech held some hints that another Democratic candidate might be the one who makes that history. Running through a list of issues, such as the high cost of college, that the next president will need to fix, she said, "All of this is much bigger than my candidacy. It is really about what we're going to stand for and what agenda our next president will have."

While Clinton again questioned how the "Democratic nominee" could be someone who in her view does not propose a universal health care program, she phrased the goal in a way that sounded like it could happen without the leadership of New York's junior senator moving to the Oval Office.

"This is, for me, is not an issue -- it's a passion and it goes way beyond my candidacy," Clinton said. "I'm hoping under the leadership of Charlie Rangel, we will pass out of Congress a universal health care bill." Congressman Rangel was attending the event.

As she has over the last few days, Clinton talked about how the party will soon be united.

"We're going to finish this nominating contest -- which we will do -- then we will have a nominee and we will have a unified Democratic Party, will stand together, defeat John McCain in November and go on to the White House," Clinton said.

Clinton is still hoping to be that nominee. Her schedule includes three events tomorrow in West Virginia, where, in a campaign stop on Friday, her husband talked about a possible way for her strengthen her case with superdelegates.

"You have to realize that if you show up in enough numbers, and your neighbors in Kentucky do, and we have a good run through the rest of these states," former president Clinton said in Madison, W. Va. on Friday. "We gotta have your help and get the largest number of people to show up on election day. See all this stuff you are hearing about is an attempt to discourage you. That's what this is, pure and simple, hoping, well, Hillary can get eighty percent of the vote in West Virginia, and if only 100,000 people show up it is not enough. But if 600,000 people show up, and you say, 'We want a president,' then you will see the earth move. You can do it."

At the Mother's Day fundraiser at the Sheraton here, the former first lady was introduced by her daughter Chelsea, but also by her longtime ally, Rangel, who defended her standing the race and poked fun at the press.

"There are so many reporters out there and they keep asking me the same basic questions as though they went to a school to see how do we can embarrass Hillary Clinton. The latest one is 'When is she going to quit?'" he said. "And I ask the question: When in the history of this country in the world did winners quit?"

By Perry Bacon Jr., The Washington Post, May 10, 2008