Hillary gets on nomination

Washington: Senator Hillary Clinton's name will be placed in nomination at the Democratic national convention under an agreement announced on Thursday by the former first lady and Senator Barack Obama, the party's presumptive presidential nominee.

The decision to put Hillary's name in nomination at the Denver convention sets the stage for an emotional state-by-state roll call vote that could highlight the bitter primary battle between the two candidates and potentially blemish the Democrats' goal of party unity going into the fall general election campaign.

But in a joint statement, Obama and Hillary said the decision would help bring the Democratic Party together, possibly by mollifying Clinton supporters who were disappointed by her primary defeat.

"I am convinced that honouring Senator 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," Obama said in the statement.

The Obama-Clinton announcement skipped any mention about the convention's agenda after her nomination, which will almost certainly trigger an intense outpouring of support from her delegates on the convention floor.

After that, it is possible that Hillary could release her delegates and free them to vote for Obama before the state-by-state roll call begins.

Hillary has spoken publicly only in general terms about what kind of profile she hopes for at the Denver convention. She said last month that her supporters "want to feel like, okay, it's a catharsis. We're here, we did it, and then everybody get behind Senator Obama." She said her supporters need to "feel that their voices were heard and their views respected".

In the statement on Thursday, Hillary said that "with every voice heard and the party strongly united, we will elect Senator Obama president of the United States."

Hillary is scheduled to deliver a prime-time convention speech on August 26, and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, is expected to speak the next day.

One veteran political analyst, Ross Baker of Rutgers University, said Obama will pay a high political price for agreeing to allow Hillary's name to be placed in nomination.

"The one thing you really have to do as a nominee is establish your dominance over the party," Baker said. "People want to see... the presidential nominee controlling the convention."

"In the interest of being gracious and avoiding the alienation of the Clinton people, they basically folded," Baker said, because Obama "reluctantly conceded it was safer... than having these people walk away from Denver disgruntled."

Sam Arora, a spokesman for the group Vote Both, which had pushed for a so-called "dream ticket" with Hillary as Obama's vice presidential nominee, applauded Thursday's move. "Obama showed that he is a leader who unites the Democratic party... by recognising Hillary's accomplishments in this historic race," Arora said. Obama's decision gives "former Clinton supporters more and more reasons to support him".