Hillary Rodham
Clinton's name will be placed in nomination along with
nominee-in-waiting Barack Obama at the Democratic National
Convention, an emblematic move intended to unite the
party after a divisive primary.
During the Denver
gathering, Democrats will officially choose Obama to
run against Republican John McCain this fall, but the state
delegations will do a traditional roll call for their
nominee's vanquished primary opponent as well.
Obama and Clinton
-- fierce rivals then, reluctant allies now -- agreed
to the arrangement after weeks of negotiations between their
respective aides. The two sides made the announcement
Thursday in a collegial joint statement.
''I am convinced
that honoring Senator Clinton's historic campaign in
this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our
history and bring the party together in a strong
united fashion,'' said Obama, an Illinois senator.
Added Clinton, a
New York senator: ''With every voice heard and the party
strongly united, we will elect Senator Obama president of
the United States and put our nation on the path to
peace and prosperity once again.''
The move is
intended to ensure a convention free of rancor and help the
Democratic Party heal after a bruising primary. The goal
also is to mollify still-disgruntled Clinton backers
and acknowledge the former first lady's groundbreaking
presidential run. She was the first woman to compete
in all of the Democratic Party primaries, though she fell
short of becoming the first to achieve a major party
nomination for the White House.
Obama's campaign
said he encouraged Clinton's name to be placed in
nomination to show unity and recognize her accomplishment.
Earlier, he gave
both Clinton and her husband, former President Clinton,
prime speaking slots during the convention.
All that ensures
an enormous presence for the couple who have been
national fixtures in the Democratic Party since 1992.
Clinton will
speak on Aug. 26, the second night of the convention.
Historically, the
state-by-state roll call occurs on the next day.
While Democrats
say the mechanics of how that will play out still are
being determined, Clinton -- herself a superdelegate who
gets a vote -- is expected to release her delegates to
Obama, announce her support for him and ask her
backers to do the same.
Her husband is
slated to address the delegates that day, too, as is
Obama's still unnamed vice presidential nominee -- yet
another strong indication that he won't ask Clinton to
be his running mate.
Obama finished
the primary season with a 364-delegate lead over Clinton.
Obama had 2,254 delegates, to 1,890 for Clinton, according
to an Associated Press tally compiled three weeks
after the last primary. It takes 2,118 delegates to
win the nomination. About 85 superdelegates still had
not endorsed a candidate.
Some 35 million
people participated in the protracted Democratic primary,
and Obama and Clinton said they wanted to ''honor and
celebrate these voices and votes'' by putting both of
their names into nomination.
Certainly, they
also hoped to head off any disruptions that could give
Republicans -- and the national media televising the
four-day event -- an opening to claim Democratic
disarray.
Obama needs
Clinton's supporters to beat McCain in November.
While polls show
that Obama has won over most of the Clinton faithful,
some simply don't like Obama or still feel Clinton was
treated unfairly during the primaries.
Critics have
indicated they would make their voices heard during the
party's Denver party in less than two weeks.
One group intends
to paper the city with fliers, promote a video
detailing what they contend were irregularities in the
nominating process and unleash bloggers to give their
take on the proceedings.
These Democrats
have accused Obama of manipulating party caucuses for
extra delegates while others complain that Clinton was the
victim of sexist party leaders or media mistreatment.
Many vent over the way the party divvied up delegates
from the Florida and Michigan primaries, two states
that were punished for violating national rules by holding
their contests early. (Liz Sidoti, AP)
