"Obama's DNC Political Maneuverings"

Turns out Democratic primary loser Hillary Rodham Clinton will get time to shine at the party's national convention after all — and quite a bit of it. Democrats officially will choose Barack Obama to run against Republican John McCain this fall.

But in an emblematic move meant to heal divisive primary wounds, the vanquished Clinton name also will be placed in nomination alongside his during the traditional state-by-state delegation roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

And, she gets her own plum speaking slot.

So does her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

All that high-profile Clinton action, spread over at least half of the convention's four prime-time speaking nights, ensures an enormous presence for the couple who have been national fixtures in the Democratic Party since 1992 — and whose latest White House bid, hers, split the party into for-them or against-them camps.

Historically, the roll call has occurred on the convention's third night. That's still likely, although Democrats say the mechanics of how the vote will play out still are being determined. When it occurs, 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.

Fierce rivals then but wary allies now, Obama and Clinton agreed to put both of their names into nomination after weeks of negotiations. They made the announcement Thursday in a collegial joint statement that noted that some 35 million people participated in the primary and that both wanted to "honor and celebrate these voices and votes."

"I am convinced that honoring Sen. 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, D-N.Y.: "With every voice heard and the party strongly united, we will elect Sen. Obama president of the United States and put our nation on the path to peace and prosperity once again."

"Both sides have something the other wants," said former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, a Democrat who had previously urged Obama and Clinton to unite and run on the same ticket. "He needs her support."

Of the Clintons, Doug Muzzio, a professor of politics at Baruch College in New York, said: "In a sense, they've got Obama hostage and are exacting their ransom" with their convention involvement.

Clinton is ever mindful of her legacy and surely wants her accomplishment noted. She also has been trying to raise money to pay off roughly $13 million in campaign debts, and she has said that Obama could help her further. She also may be positioning herself for a reprise run; a strong national performance could help her repair some of her own political damage from the bare-knuckled primary.

Obama, for his part, no doubt wants a rancor-free convention. He also needs to mollify still-disgruntled Clinton backers, including working-class whites who are skeptical of him and women who are angry that their trailblazing candidate failed. He needs their support to beat McCain. 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.

Thu Aug 14, 12:12 PM ET

In this file photo Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick addresses the audience at the 2008 NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit, Michigan April 27, 2008. Picture taken April 27, 2008. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said on Thursday she would not grant a pardon to Kilpatrick on perjury and other charges, reiterating that the situation needed to be resolved.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama doesn't want the embattled mayor of Detroit on hand when Obama accepts the party's presidential nomination in Denver.

A spokesman for Obama said Thursday that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick would be a distraction if he goes to the convention as a superdelegate.

Kilpatrick faces eight felony charges in a perjury case and two felony charges in an assault case. A Michigan judge told Kilpatrick on Thursday that he could attend the convention. His lawyer, James Thomas, said high-ranking Democrats want Kilpatrick to attend.

But Obama spokesman Brent Colburn said in an e-mail that the focus of the convention should be on Obama and not on what Colburn called "the troubles of one individual."

    In the light of the latest political maneuverings by presumptive Democrat nominee, Senator Barack Obama, in the coming Democratic National Convention, Obama figures he has the black American vote "in the bag" and Senator Hillary Clinton's disgruntled white American supporters placated. The prominence given Hillary and Bill Clinton at the DNC event will go a long way to healing the Democratic party after the long and hard fought primaries between Obama and Clinton. However, in my opinion, it is a bad move by the Obama campaign, to exclude Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a black American and a superdelegate, from the Democratic Convention, even after the Judge in his perjury trial as given permission for Mayor Kilpatrick to go to the Convention. Many black Americans in Detroit and other cities will be angered by this exclusion, perhaps to the point of not voting at all in the general election or voting for the Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney, who is also a black American. In pursuing the "white vote" Obama must not make the mistake of taking the "black vote" for granted but even commensurate politicians like Barack Obama can make mistakes, as I see it.

tags: barack obama  politics  democratic party  hillary clinton  president  democratic national convention  

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