Eleven days to go until the election.

Sen. Barack Obama is off the campaign trail today and tomorrow to visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, but I had the chance to spend an extraordinary evening earlier this week with he and Sen. Hillary Clinton for their first joint appearance since that tension-filled unity rally in Unity, NH, back in June. Oh what a difference four months can make.

During the primaries I had traveled extensively with Sen. Clinton and asked if she would let me go along as she stumped for Barack Obama. 

It was a relaxed and upbeat Hillary Clinton who greeted me backstage in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where 1500 supporters stood in the rain while she urged them to "do for Barack, what you did for me." She seemed to be having — dare I say it — a good time. Rain and all.

Clinton — who has made over 60 campaign appearances for Obama — is determined, it seems, to make good on her promise to work and work hard for him. Her supporters are apparently getting the message. A poll released this week shows 84 percent of Clinton supporters now say they’ll vote for Obama. Back in June, one in four said they were undecided or would vote for McCain.

"These things take a little time," Clinton told me. "There are a lot of human emotions in this." She said she was exhausted after a grueling primary season and a disappointing loss but that after some sleep and a few long walks she was ready to get back in the game. "Barack and I were friends before the campaign began and we’re friends now." While acknowledging it took some time to be able to put her heart into campaigning for Obama, she now seems to be well into it. Will he be ready on day one, I asked?  Will he be able to handle that 3 AM call? Without hesitation she said "yes" to both.   

She was in Florida on Monday for the first day of early voting in that state. Clinton made a series of stops around the state — flexing her significant political muscle on Obama’s behalf. The crowds were loud, large and very enthusiastic.

Florida is, of course, a key battleground state with its 27 electoral votes, and although George W. Bush famously won there in 2000 and 2004, most polls have Obama and McCain in a virtual tie in the Sunshine State.

Obama would dearly love to win Florida, but most analysts say his path to the White House could detour around the state, where John McCain’s cannot. Simply put: In the complex game of delegate math John McCain needs Florida to get to the magic number of 270 and Obama, they say, does not. 

As testimony to the state’s importance, with the clock ticking down to Election Day, Obama himself spent two days in Florida.

Monday night, as the sun set, he and Clinton shared an outdoor stage in Orlando. Fifty thousand enthusiastic Democrats greeted the two senators who spoke warmly — and it appeared sincerely — about one another. Obama got the crowd chanting "Hillary, Hillary." And Clinton gave a rousing call for electing Obama.