Party Appears to Still Have Unity Problems
Swarms of people poured into the Denver Pepsi Center Monday night to kick off the first of the four day long Denver National Convention. Delegates and the public alike arrived to find live music blaring from all corners of the arena and the ground floor already packed with Obama fans dancing the mambo.
It was easy to fall into the celebration mode as more and more people waved their signs of praise for Senator Obama while the disco themed light show glazed over the crowd, but the sense of unity that the Obama campaign has continued to promote was severely undercut by the massive amounts of Hillary Clinton supporters who were hardly at the convention to unite with their fellow democrats.
The first day of this convention was to allow voters to have yet another chance to dig deeper into Obama’s character, values and who he really is. Strong political supporters such as Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke on Obama’s behalf.
Senator Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama, and his brother in law, Craig Robinson, also spoke in order to portray Obama as a man of the people. But those efforts did little to the loyal Clinton fans who still plan to vote for her despite Obama’s nomination for the Democratic Candidacy.
Pennsylvanian Delegate James Tait was one of many to be elected as a Hillary delegate but now turned to Senator Obama to promote unity amongst the Democratic Party.
“With Hillary Clinton out of the race, we have now endorsed Obama. Clinton should be nominated on the first ballot, and I think she will concede and release her delegates. She knows she can’t get nominated but it strengthens the process,” Tait said.
Fellow Clinton delegate Robert Jackson, a New York City Councilman, said it was possible for Senator Clinton to still achieve a win. “I think it would happen on the first role call,” he said. “The bottom line is we can’t afford to go through another four years of this kind of administration.”
Clinton dropped out of the race in June after Obama secured enough delegates to win nomination, but her plan to keep her pledged delegates might have paid off.
The Obama campaign has agreed to put Clinton’s name on the nomination ballot at the convention out of respect for the senator. With her millions of persistent and hopeful supporters, as well as Obama’s decision to extend her involvement in the race for the presidency, Obama will continue to have direct competition not only with the Republican Party, but also with the millions of undecided voters within his own party who are passionate supporters of Senator Clinton even though the two candidates have many similar policies.
Pam Durham, a Clinton delegate from Texas, said it was apparent the proper procedure for selecting a nominee was used at the convention. There had been some controversy over the seating of delegates from Florida and Michigan, but ultimately they were also seated with full votes.
“What we have to do when we go back home is prove that we have an accountable and transparent process all the way through,” Durham said. “We have to put the rules back into the process and prove we’re the people’s party.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alison Mesinger at Alison.Mesinger@colorado.edu.
