Clinton says election isn't about her

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-27 15:06

The dealmaking and lack of direction left Clinton supporters frustrated. Clinton fueled confusion by refusing to publicly instruct her delegates how to vote, though she said she'll back Obama when the time comes. She planned to meet with her delegates Wednesday.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is seen on stage as she prepares to address the Democratic National Convention in Denver,Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. [Agencies]

All the Clintons, a longtime royal family of Democratic politics, were on hand to pass the torch to Obama. Clinton was introduced by her daughter Chelsea, while her husband watched from a box seat above the Arkansas delegation. Not everyone with a ticket could get in to hear Clinton after fire marshals declared the hall filled to capacity.

The convention hall was brimming with delegates wearing Clinton gear. There were Hillary T-shirts, buttons and stickers. Some delegates brought signs promoting Clinton for president. Many wore white shirts to mark the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage.

"My mother was born before women could vote," Clinton reminded them. "But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for president."

The Obama campaign gave Clinton her due. Before she took the stage Tuesday night, Obama's campaign distributed "Hillary" signs throughout the Pepsi Center. But only sentences into Clinton's speech, those signs were quickly swapped out for others proclaiming either "Obama" or "Hillary" on one side, and "Unity" on the other.

Some Clinton delegates weren't ready for so quick a pivot.

"We love you Hillary!" some shouted.

Jennie Lou Leeder, a Clinton delegate from Llado, Texas, said Clinton "was so good tonight, I was crying."

Did her speech help to unify the party?

"It's not Hillary's job to bring this party together," Leeder said. "It's Barack Obama's job to bring this party together."

Daniel Kagan, a Clinton delegate from Englewood, Colo., said he felt pride and sadness watching Clinton speak. He was proud of her accomplishments, but saddened by the realization that her campaign was truly over.

Nevertheless, Kagan said, the speech will help to unify the party.

"I know that it's changed attitudes," Kagan said. "I saw some of my colleagues standing up and applauding for Obama for the first time."

It was the culmination of an emotional day for Clinton loyalists, still wondering how the final act would play out in Wednesday's roll call vote and whether they would have a chance to give their candidate one last show of support.

Party leaders said they feared a nationally televised floor demonstration Wednesday that would underscore party divisions.

"It seems to be a little more of a problem than I anticipated," former Democratic Party chairman Don Fowler told the AP. "All you need is 200 people in that crowd to boo and stuff like that and it will be replayed 900 times. And that's not what you want out of this."

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