Obama, Clinton Divide An Opportunity for Republicans

DAVENPORT, Iowa
Aug. 25, 2008— -- 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.

"Eighteen million people voted for me," she said, adding, "Eighteen million people, give or take, voted for Barack."

Not Just Cracks in the Ceiling

Last week, Clinton's brother, Tony Rodham, met with some of Sen. John McCain's campaign officials. Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, recently praised the Republican senator and presumptive nominee for his leadership on global warming.

These developments are seen as fissures by McCain's camp, which is hoping to exploit the Obama-Clinton divide with a glut of new TV ads ,reminding voters of Clinton's criticism of her former Democratic rival just a few short weeks ago.

In one ad, Obama is attacked for not choosing Clinton as his vice presidential running mate. The ad implies Obama has lingering bitterness over Clinton's attacks during the primaries, attacks the ad argues hit too close to home. Excerpts from an interview Clinton gave several months ago to the newspaper Politico are also used in the ad.

"You never hear the specifics," Clinton says of Obama's policies.

Another ad, entitled "Was She Right?" being released by the Republican National Committee, quotes Clinton from several months ago saying, "Sen. McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign. I will bring a lifetime of experience. And Sen. Obama will bring a speech he gave in 2002."

The McCain campaign issued yet another ad on Monday featuring Debra Bartoshevich, a former Clinton delegate from Wisconsin.

In the ad, Bartoshevich, who was stripped of her delegate status after she announced her intention to support McCain, claimed she is "a proud Hillary Clinton Democrat."

"She had the experience and judgment to be president," she said of Clinton.

"Now, in a first for me, I'm supporting a Republican, John McCain."

But today, Clinton made it clear she is not a willing participant in the Republican ads against Obama.

"Let me state what I think about their tactics and these ads -- I'm Hillary Clinton and I do not approve of that message," Clinton said

In that same interview from Politico's February 12 edition, Clinton predicted that if Obama won the nomination, he would be the subject of many negative attacks from Republicans.

"Somebody told me today that Sen. Obama has never had a negative ad run against him. Well, get ready, because if he's the nominee, we will see a lot of that."

ABC News' Avery Miller, Andrew Fies, Sunlen Miller, and Natalie Gewargis contributed to this report.