Democrats are pondering a big question before the party’s convention in August — what to do with the 1,600 convention delegates Hillary Clinton won in six months of primaries.
With Barack Obama virtually assured of the nomination, the Obama and Clinton camps are negotiating to determine whether and how her name is put into nomination.
“A full roll-call vote that reminds everyone how close she came to being the nominee could reveal party rifts going into the fall campaign,” the Wall Street Journal observed.
“But keeping her name off the roll call could anger her supporters.”
Under party rules, Clinton’s large delegate count gives her the right to put her name into nomination.
Assuming that Clinton is not named as Obama’s running mate, political analysts say the two camps could be considering several other options:
Clinton could simply decline to put her name forward, and Obama could be nominated by acclamation, sending the message that he had unified the party.Clinton could be nominated, then by prearrangement take her name out of consideration and endorse Obama.The two camps could agree to hold a “friendly” roll call, with the states “tossing verbal bouquets to Clinton before voting for Obama,” according to the Journal. But that might remind voters that Obama did not win primaries in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and other swing states that might prove crucial in November.The two camps will also have to decide when Hillary will speak at the convention, and how Bill Clinton will fit into the schedule.
The party's convention will be held Aug. 25-28 at Denver's Pepsi Center, which holds up to 21,000 people. But Obama will accept the nomination at Invesco Field at Mile High, a 76,000-seat stadium that is home to the Denver Broncos, according to The Associated Press.
The decision to move Obama's acceptance speech to the giant football stadium was expected to boost fundraising, convention organizer Jenny Backus said.
Obama is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech on the fourth and final night of the convention. It coincides with the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
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