Clinton Preaches Unity at Her First Convention Gig
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
DENVER -- Hillary Rodham Clinton preached unity Monday in her first appearance at the Democratic National Convention, insisting she is doing everything possible to prove her full support for Barack Obama.
Her first stop in Denver was a breakfast meeting for New York Democrats, where supporters waved signs declaring "Hillary Made History."
The New York senator was quick to put Republican John McCain in her sights, saying the de facto GOP nominee was running ads using her words to try to divide the Democrats.
Clinton's response: "I'm Hillary Clinton, and I do not approve that message."
Clinton tried to acknowledge the hard feelings of the primary season while encouraging everyone to move past them.
"We were not all on the same side as Democrats, but we are now," she said. "We are united and we are together and we are determined."
After the celebratory appearance before her home state supporters, she told reporters she will do everything she can to help Obama -- and not detract from a party convention designed to highlight the nominee above all else.
"There is no doubt in anyone's mind that this is Barack Obama's convention," she said, adding that it is only natural for there to be some lingering issues to resolve after a tough primary.
"It would have been the same way if I had won and Barack was here supporting the unity of the party. This was a hard fought campaign and there was a lot of intensity and passion associated with it, in part because of the historic nature of our two candidacies."
Asked why some of her supporters are still adamant they will not vote for Obama no matter how much she encourages them to do so, Clinton said: "I don't know, I'm doing everything I can possibly do, and I think we have made a strong case."
Clinton gives a prime time convention speech Tuesday night, and the following day will gather her delegates together and publicly release them and urge them to support Obama.
Many of those delegates, she said, will likely vote for him, but "others feel an obligation to the people who sent them here that they were elected to represent."
Part of her job at the convention will be letting those delegates know "that however they decide to vote, we will all be united behind Senator Obama," she said.
The senator's role at the convention has been carefully negotiated over weeks and months with Obama advisers, but Clinton denied those talks have been difficult.
"We have a very good working relationship and it is through that relationship that we have worked out a lot of the issues," she said. "I have done more in the last two months than people in my position historically have done and I am going to keep doing it."
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