Clinton lines up her own show tomorrow

Denver: Senator Hillary Clinton, hoping to unite the Democratic Party and cement her future in it, will gather her hard-won primary delegates tomorrow at a reception where she is expected to formally release them to Barack Obama.

The New York senator has invited her pledged delegates to a reception at the Colorado Convention Centre, not far from the main Democratic National Convention arena.

The high-profile gathering of political regulars who once fought against Obama serves a dual purpose for Clinton: Show fellow Democrats that she can be a team player, and display her still-formidable political strengths for the future. Many of her supporters want her to run again for president.

A Democratic official told The Associated Press that she is expected to release her delegates at the event tomorrow.

Asked about Clinton's plans for the event, her spokesman Philippe Reines said it will be "an opportunity for Senator Clinton to see her delegates - many for the first time since the primaries ended, thank them for their hard work and support and, most importantly, to encourage them to support and work for Senator Obama as strongly as she has in order to elect him in November".

At an appearance in Fresno, California, for the United Farm Workers, Clinton declined to comment on her plans for the event. She praised Obama's newly minted running mate Joe Biden, another sign of party loyalty.

"I know him very well, and I know he has been on the front lines of the fight for social and economic justice his entire time in public service," Clinton said.

Coming into the convention, many Democrats have wondered exactly how and when Clinton would throw her delegates to Obama, and if that would be a messy, contentious affair. Some Clinton delegates still plan to vote for her at the convention, even if she releases them. "This is much bigger than Hillary," said Pam Durham, a Clinton delegate from Fort Worth, Texas. "I have a responsibility. I do not own my vote. I have to represent the voters who sent me."

Raising doubts: Mccain's ad campaign

Democrats gathered in Denver to nominate Barack Obama as standard-bearer, but Republican opponent John McCain was giving no peace - sniping away with ads to stir discord over the Illinois senator's choice of Joe Biden as a running mate.

The Delaware senator barely had time to digest his new status before McCain - who initially called him a "wise selection" and a friend from their long Senate association - put his ad men to work on two commercials raising doubts about Biden's selection. The most recent includes video of Senator Hillary Clinton issuing critical remarks about Obama during their primary battle. In one clip she says, "Senator Obama's campaign has become increasingly negative."

Then an announcer says: "She won millions of votes but isn't on the ticket. Why? For speaking the truth."