DENVER - As Republicans tried to exacerbate tensions within the Democratic Party, appealing directly to Hillary Clinton's supporters with a barrage of ads and even a happy-hour event, she entreated her faithful yesterday to ignore them and unite behind Barack Obama.
In a speech to the party's Hispanic Caucus, where an adoring crowd greeted her with thunderous applause, Clinton told delegates that she believed "with all my heart" that their top priority should be electing a Democrat president.
"To those of you who supported me, I would be forever grateful for you to work as hard for Barack Obama as you worked for me," said Clinton, who will address the convention during prime time tonight.
The two former rivals reached a deal later yesterday on cutting short the promised roll call vote tomorrow night to limit the image of a party divided. Democratic officials involved in the negotiations said the deal would let a few states cast votes for Clinton before a move to declare Obama the nominee by acclimation, the Associated Press reported.
But signs of discontent remained, showing that the difficult task of uniting the party after a protracted and bitter primary season remained unfinished on the first day of the Democratic convention.
A coalition of anti-Obama Clinton supporters, clad in "Clinton," "McCain," and "Nobama" buttons, marched down the 16th Street Mall at midday and held a protest and candlelight vigil in a Denver park. News reports dribbled out that former president Bill Clinton was grumbling over being asked to focus his speech tomorrow night on the more narrow subject of national security, that day's official theme, rather than on the campaign in general.
Even Clinton's most fervent supporters said they held little hope of an insurrection on the floor tomorrow, but there remains an obvious and unusual level of discomfort among delegates, who are the party's most active and committed members.
Jennifer Herrera, a 36-year-old part-time college professor and Clinton delegate from Centennial, Colo., said she believed the anger was subsiding, but hurt still lingered.
"The Clinton supporters I talk to will vote for Obama, but they may not go out and work for him," she said.
A trio of Clinton delegates from Texas illustrated the divide. Jason Smith, a 40-year-old lawyer from Fort Worth, said he would happily go along with Obama; Pam Durham, a 55-year-old acupuncturist from the same city, said she would have to see how Obama treated Clinton.
"We've got a job here to do, and our job is to vote for Hillary every time her name comes up," she said. "After the convention, we'll go from there."
And the third Texan, Shirley Luther, a 59-year-old retired refinery worker from Belmont, said she would not vote for Obama because she believed he was not experienced enough and because she was disgusted with the party's handling of the disputed Michigan and Florida primaries.Continued...
