- Sen. Barack Obama in a statement announcing plans to have Sen. Hillary Clinton's name placed in nomination for a roll call at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
“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.”
- Sen. Hillary Clinton in a statement justifying the need to have her name put in nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
The decision was announced on Thursday afternoon in a joint statement from the senators.
It comes after long negotiations on both sides, with many backers of Mrs. Clinton vigorously pushing for her candidacy to be validated by giving her delegates the chance to support her through a roll call vote. After the state-by-state roll is tallied, Mrs. Clinton is expected to turn over her cache of delegates to Senator Barack Obama.
CNN.com reports that a Democratic source with knowledge of the discussions says that the process was not a negotiation – that both sides came to a mutual decision that the move was the best path.
"They have known since the day she dropped out that she wanted this 'for history,'" says a Democratic operative speaking about the Obama camp. The announcement follows a string of recent reports that die-hard supporters of Hillary Clinton were planning to protest in Denver if her name were not placed into nomination, and a roll call vote held that would allow the New York senator's delegates to vote for her.
The roll call is scheduled for August 27, 2008 during the DNC.
Read the New York Times article about Hillary Clinton and the roll call at the Democratic National Convention here.
Read the CNN.com article about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Convention here.
plez sez: although, i am not in favor of this concession, i do realize that hillary clinton did garner a large number of votes during the primary and she has some die-hard supporters who need some validation of their efforts.
but one should keep in mind, the democratic nomination was her's to lose... and she lost it: she mismanaged her funds, mismanaged her campaign, and overlooked a serious and well-organized opponent in Barack Obama. let the clintons speak, let hillary's name get mentioned as a nominee, let hillary's supporters get over themselves and their fake sexism crocodile tears... and let's move on! Obama will be hard pressed to win in november without the democratic base solidly behind him.
i'm sure his camp had to hold their nose as they agreed to this final (hopefully) concession to the sore losers in the clinton camp.
...and a brief history lesson on presidential politics, hillary clinton will not be the first woman whose name has been put into nomination at a major party convention:
- 1964 republican national convention - maine senator margaret chase smith
- 1972 democratic national convention - new york congresswoman shirley chisholm (who also happened to be Black)
Barack Obama will be the only one in Denver making history.
I thought there would always be a roll call for the first ballot. Then after the roll call someone can make a motion that the nomination be unanimous. Were they going to break the rules?
ReplyDeletehaving run he nominations process for my fraternity, if all of the other nominees withdraw from the race and release their delegates, only the winner's name will need to be nominated and used in the roll call. this time, clinton has not released her delegates (remember, she only suspended her campaign), so she can still be nominated and have her delegates vote for her during the roll call.
ReplyDeleteif all goes according to plan, she will lose that vote.
after the roll call vote, she will release her delegates and ask that everyone get on board with Obama. at least, that's what the Obama camp is hoping will happen!