Obama, Clinton Divide An Opportunity for Republicans

DAVENPORT, Iowa<br>Aug. 25, 2008&#151; -- On the first day of the Democratic National Convention, presumptive nominee Sen. Barack Obama spent the day in Iowa, the site of his initial victory of the primary season against the Democratic contenders and then-front runner Sen. Hillary Clinton. But today, he met there with a fairly unenthusiastic crowd of undecided independents and Republican voters.

It was sunny at the Mississippi valley fairgrounds as the Illinois senator tried to rally his audience. He worked it, talking to one woman's skeptical husband on his cell phone in front of the crowd, even agreeing to taste a local specialty, a fattening "Magic Mountain" sandwich, which consisted of Texas toast, steamed loose hamburger meat, hash browns, french fries, and cheddar cheese -- a decidedly un-Obama snack.

But back in Colorado, dark clouds were already forming over Denver's Pepsi Center, with party unity at the center of the storm.

With the nomination all but sewn up, this year's convention would be mostly ceremonial and predictable in nature, if not for the roll call -- the traditional reading of the 50 states and formal pledging of the delegate votes. In what both Obama and Clinton's camps call "a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran," the former rivals have agreed to place both their names in nomination during the state-by-state delegation roll call vote.

Many supporters of Obama's one-time rival, the junior senator from New York and former first lady, are more focused on her loss in the primaries than Obama's victory in the fall.

During breakfast with the New York delegation on Monday morning, Clinton stressed the strength and cohesiveness of the party.

"We are, after all, Democrats," Clinton said jokingly.

"So, it might take a while. We're not the fall-in-line party, we're diverse, many voices. But make no mistake, we are united," she added.

The senator urged her supporters to get behind Obama, but not without reminding them of her view -- aided by fuzzy math -- that she won the popular vote during the primaries and caucuses, a point Clinton and her team stressed last spring as her reason for staying in the race, even after it was mathematically hers to win.