This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: August 26, 2008 - DENVER -- Monday's events gave the Missouri delegation an overnight uplift, with delegates still talking this morning about the inspiring and stirring messages by Michelle Obama and two senators -- Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
But one question mark continues to hang over the crowd like an overcast sky: What will happen tonight and beyond to delegates who supported Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York during the primaries? Will they give up and board the Obama train after Clinton speaks and is honored tonight at the convention? What about the people who voted for Clinton during the primaries?
Peggy Cochran, a Clinton delegate from Missouri and former executive director of the Missouri National Education Association, brought the delegates a message from the Clinton camp: Clinton is for Obama; she wants him to win, but she isn't necessarily going to tell her supporters how to vote during the roll call.
"Her message is going to be that she is working hard for Obama," Cochran said. "She supports him and will vote for him. But she feels it's important for her people to vote their conscience. But when we leave this convention, we will be united."
Cochran added that Clinton wanted delegates to "work as hard for Obama as you have for me."
Delegates clapped warmly after Cochran told them that Obama and Clinton share the same views on many key issues.
"It's so important that we understand and believe that the only way these positions will get to the White House and be made policy is by a vote for Barack Obama," Cochran said.
Still, some Clinton delegates said they intended to continue to support her candidacy. One is Jan Hoffman of Clayton. She says that it's important for voters like herself to express the level of support they had for Hillary's candidacy. The fact that some still feel strongly about Clinton means, she said, that "the Missouri delegation is still divided."
On the other hand, Mayor Francis Slay, who initially backed Clinton, said he ultimately would vote for Obama. He said he hoped that delegations won't allow party divisions to ruin the Democrats' chances in November. He said he was confident that Democrats would win.
Other speakers this morning also talked about the Clinton factor, including Ray Mabus, former governor of Mississippi and former ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He is now advising Obama on Middle Eastern issues.
Mabus warned, "The only thing we need to take from this convention is the enthusiasm of the primary season and honoring the 18 million votes that Sen. Clinton got. And I'm so proud that that glass ceiling is no longer there."
He was warmly applauded for that comment and said the campaign had changed the dynamics in the Democrats' favor in several states.
"I think Barack Obama is the strongest candidate we could have in the South," he said. "I think you'll see states like Mississippi, Virginia, the Carolinas and Missouri go from red Republican to blue Democrat in November.
"We have got to win this time. This is too important an election to slide by. We cannot afford four more years of McBush," a reference John McCain who is campaigning to succeed President George W. Bush.
