Hillary Clinton’s name is to be put on the ballot at the Democrats’ convention in Denver this month in a symbolic gesture intended to solidify the party’s support around Barack Obama.
The move, which was announced in a joint statement yesterday on Thursday from Obama and Clinton, offers the prospect that convention delegates will have an opportunity to vote for the nominee, after several years when the gathering served merely as a coronation.
However, it is envisaged as an entirely symbolic vote, with Clinton herself expected to give her backing to Obama and urge her supporters to do the same.
Obama said the vote, which will be held on the third day of the convention, was intended to recognize that Clinton had come farther than any other woman in her run for the White House.
‘HISTORIC CAMPAIGN’
“I am convinced that honoring 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 a joint statement issued with Clinton.
Clinton said that the move would help unite the party around Obama.
“With every voice heard and the party strongly united, we will elect Senator Obama president of the United States and put our nation on the path to peace and prosperity once again,” Clinton said in the statement.
The gesture is the latest in a series of measures undertaken by the Obama campaign to placate Clinton and her most fervent supporters.
In an attempt to win over those supporters, Democratic officials have edged closer towards Clinton’s positions in the convention manifesto.
The Clintons have also been guaranteed speaking slots on successive nights of the convention.
MIXED FEELINGS
Although Clinton has campaigned for Obama and issued repeated public calls for her supporters to back his run for the White House, in more intimate gatherings she has indicated that she still has mixed feelings about his candidacy.
At a fundraising event in California last month, Clinton told donors that it was hard to let go after the long campaign. She also said that she thought her supporters needed the “catharsis” of a convention ballot to reconcile them to her defeat in the primaries.
But even a ballot may not win over some of Clinton’s diehard supporters, who are making plans for two days of protests at the convention.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
YELLOW SHIRTS: Many protesters were associated with pro-royalist groups that had previously supported the ouster of Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, in 2006 Protesters rallied on Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced more than 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained substantial power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about 2,000 protesters by mid-afternoon, although
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS