WASHINGTON -- One would not even need to enter the Democratic National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill yesterday, where a press conference was being held, to know where the focus of the party's efforts is. A banner hanging over the front door reads: "John McCain = 3rd Bush Term."

Party leaders stood before a packed room of reporters and cameras yesterday proclaiming a unified party, as DNC chairman Howard Dean, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Governors' Association chairman Joe Manchin spoke about efforts to extend its majorities in the House, Senate and among the key governorships around the country, and on the importance of winning back the White House.

Reid said party leaders "have the closest association in the history of the Democratic Party," saying that the communication and cooperation between the House, Senate, DGA and DNC was unprecedented. Pelosi said that all the branches of party leadership "look forward now to joining forces to elect a Democratic President of the United States to take our country in a new direction."

Two Clinton supporters, Senators Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Patty Murray of Washington, also stepped up to the microphone to express their support for the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama -- a clear nod to Clinton primary voters, especially women, to do the same. Murray likened the situation to the rivalry between her Washington State University Cougars and the University of Washington Huskies. Though she rooted for her team, if the Huskies made the Rose Bowl, she would always root them on.

Another Clinton supporter, fellow New York Senator Charles Schumer, let out a high-pitched "Woooo!" after Reid said Obama would be the country's next president. Dean expressed his confidence that Obama will defeat McCain in November. "This is not just about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, this is about our country," Dean said. "I have every belief that we will come together."

In another sign of the party's efforts to bring its supporters together, Pelosi noted two groups of Democratic voters that usually favored Clinton over Obama over the course of the primary season. "Women and blue collar workers, whatever their race, have the most to gain by the election of Barack Obama," Pelosi said.

The Republican National Committee has almost doubled the DNC's fundraising so far this election cycle, but Dean said the party will be closing that gap soon, noting that he had just finished writing 30 "thank you" letters to donors who had just given the maximum $28,500 donation. "Now that we have a nominee, we won't have any problem raising money," Dean said. "We are going to essentially be run by the Obama campaign."

He has a few more thank-yous to write to catch up, though; media reports indicate that the DNC will claim just over $4 million in the bank when they file with the FEC this month, while Republicans have more than $50 million on hand.

-- Kyle Trygstad