Obama, Clinton vow cooperation in ensure a smooth convention

8/8/2008

CHICAGO - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dismissed suggestions yesterday that the nominating convention could be marred by tensions between his supporters and the die-hard backers of Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Obama said their staffs were working out mutually agreeable convention logistics. At the same time, Mrs. Clinton was assuring her supporters in an online chat that she and Mr. Obama were "working together to make sure it's a big success."

Neither directly answered questions about whether Mrs. Clinton's name should be placed in nomination so her backers could record their votes.

Mr. Obama clinched the nomination after a sometimes bitter primary contest with Mrs. Clinton.

Amid reports that some Clinton backers hope to raise her profile at the convention or even continue to push her candidacy, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama were publicly trying to ease the strained relations that exist between some of their supporters.

Flying home to Chicago, Mr. Obama said on his campaign plane that he talked this week to Mrs. Clinton and her husband, the former president, and they were enthusiastic about having a smooth convention at the end of the month in Denver.

"As is true in all conventions, we're still working out the mechanics, the coordination," Mr. Obama said.

One such issue is whether there will be a convention roll call on Mrs. Clinton's nomination, he said.

"I'm letting our respective teams work out details," he said. Asked if that meant he wouldn't object to her name being placed in nomination and a vote taken, Obama said: "I didn't say that. I said that they're working it out."

Mrs. Clinton has not said whether she will seek a formal vote on her bid for the nomination. For the online chat on her Web site, she wrote that she and Mr. Obama will ensure Democrats are "fully unified."

Mrs. Clinton was expected to deliver a prime-time address to delegates on Aug. 26, the second night of the convention.

With the delegate roll call planned for the next evening, Mr. Obama was set to accept the nomination with a speech on its fourth and final night.