Thousands of delegates on the floor of the Pepsi Center came to their feet in wild cheers Wednesday, dancing and swaying to the song “Love Train,” and embraced a single Democratic candidate as their nominee for president of the United States.
The divided Democratic National Convention stopped its roll-call vote two-thirds of the way through and nominated by acclamation Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to be the nation’s first African-American major-party presidential candidate.
“Let’s declare together, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our next president,” Hil lary Rodham Clinton, Obama’s primary rival, shouted before a screaming throng on its feet and waving signs.
Clinton made the motion, seconded by the more than 4,000 delegates in a rush of applause that was dissented by none. Her motion came in a grand show after Nevada stopped the roll call to yield to Illinois, which Obama represents. Illinois then yielded to Clinton’s New York.
Next, coming down a ramp in a procession of New York’s political elite entered a beaming Clinton, as the crowd chanted, “Yes, we can! Yes, we can!”
“That was art. That was beautiful,” said Chris Gates, former party chairman for Colorado. “They had clearly orchestrated it perfectly to deliver the exact right message, and they succeeded.”
The nomination process was at once high drama and bittersweet. And though it ended a contentious process, many of the party’s most faithful remained divided of spirit, and a few vowed to vote for the other side.
Only two hours before the roll-call vote, Clinton met with 2,000 of her jubilant and ardent dele gates and released them to vote for Obama. That room screamed “No!” in chorus.
Clinton urged her delegates, crammed in standing-room-only, to vote for Obama but said that ultimately the decision was theirs.
“I’m not telling you what to do, because you came here from so many different places,” she said. “I believe as Democrats and Americans, we will leave Denver united.”
Somehow, it worked. Maybe it was Clinton’s moving speech Tuesday or her act Wednesday to cast her own vote for Obama. Maybe it was the series of meetings with Clinton delegate “whips” charged with getting state delegations to behave.
The vote by acclamation sends the message that all of the 56 delegations supported the nomination unanimously, though Clinton had collected an unofficial 320.5 votes to Obama’s 1,438.5.
On the floor, the roll call became a lovefest. Colorado whip and pledged Clinton delegate Stan Matsunaka made the decision to go with Obama and cheered and embraced the other supporters as Colorado’s delegation cast its votes.
The Rev. Willie Barrow, an 84-year-old Chicagoan, sat in the front row and wrote the tally of votes for Obama carefully on a piece of hotel stationery.
“It’s a world change. It’s more than just Illinois; it’s change in our whole country,” she said.
Arkansas delegate Jane Gray-Todd, pledged to Clinton, said she now was ready to work as hard for Obama as she had for the former Arkansas first lady.
“I think it’s wonderful how she’s done this,” Gray-Todd said. “We need unity. I’d be glad to help get him elected.”
As Clinton threw her delegates to Obama, David Gilbert-Pederson, 17, of Minnesota wept, thinking about what it meant for his future.
“As a young person of color, it means the world to me to have an African-American accept this nomination,” Gilbert-Pederson said.
Allowing New York to put Clinton’s final number of delegates on record will help heal divisions, several members of Congress said.
“If the New York delegation, the most pro-Hillary delegation, can vote unanimously for Barack Obama, it shows how unified we are,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the senior New York senator.
Sen. Dick Durbin, perhaps Obama’s closest ally in the Senate, said Clinton “has done a lot to heal divisions of this party” and that with the exception of a few, Clinton delegates would support Obama in November.
Staff writer Anne C. Mulkern contributed to this report.
Chuck Plunkett: 303-954-1333 or cplunkett@denverpost.com
