Clinton frees delegates to back Obama

Delegates from Hawaii, where Barack Obama was born, cheered after casting votes in the roll call. Hillary Clinton made a motion to end the vote and declare Obama the nominee. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

DENVER - With one dramatic and magnanimous gesture, Hillary Clinton yesterday made her onetime opponent, Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, appearing on the convention floor to ask the thousands assembled to abandon a state-by-state vote and declare Obama the winner by acclamation.

"On behalf of the great state of New York, with appreciation for the spirit and dedication of all who are gathered here, with eyes fixed firmly on the future, with the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory," Clinton said from the floor of the Pepsi Center in a surprise visit, surrounded by a crush of supporters and nearly drowned out by cheers, "let's declare in one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and will be our president."

With that, she made the motion to end the roll call vote - as well as her own lengthy quest for the presidency.

An ebullient crowd answered "Yeah!" when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked whether someone would second the motion, and again to pass the motion. Then, a live band played "Love Train," the throngs of Democrats joined hands, swaying and singing.

The roll call vote was a formality, since Obama had already sewn up the nomination. But Clinton supporters - some still smarting over what they saw as unfair treatment of the New York senator during the campaign - wanted an opportunity to cast their first ballot votes for Clinton and give her the recognition they believe she deserves.

Yesterday's choreography - following Clinton's Tuesday night speech calling for party unity - underscored Clinton's wish to move on.

"There are a lot of people who are still healing," said Nili Lange, a delegate from New Mexico who cast her individual vote for Clinton before the roll call. But most Clinton backers will rally around Obama as the election nears, she predicted.

The roll call, in which states are called in alphabetical order, appeared designed to have Clinton deliver the final votes making Obama the nominee. Even states that had voted heavily for Clinton during the primaries cast a majority for Obama, and Arkansas - while proudly noting its place as Clintons' adopted home state - cast all of its 47 votes for Obama.

New Hampshire, too, which rescued Clinton's presidential hopes by making her the first woman to win a major party presidential primary, also cast all 30 of its votes for Obama. Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray, a Clinton supporter, and Governor Deval Patrick, an early Obama backer, divided the Bay State's votes 65 for Obama and 52 for Clinton, although she won the state handily Feb. 5

California passed, as did Illinois, Obama's home state, and New Mexico. That brought the vote to New York, and Clinton, accompanied by Senator Charles Schumer and Governor David Paterson, pushed through an excited crowd and took the microphone.

At that point, Obama had 1,549 votes of the 2,210 needed and Clinton had 341.

"I move that Senator Obama of Illinois be selected by this convention by acclamation as the nominee of the Democratic Party," she said.

The convention here has been clouded somewhat by divisions between Obama and Clinton supporters, and some party officials worry that the fissure could cost Obama votes in the fall. Both the candidates and the convention architects have sought to heal those wounds at the party's mass meeting this week.

Even the selection of speakers officially nominating Obama was made with an eye toward unity. They included an Iraq war veteran from Tennessee who is a registered Republican, a Florida congresswoman who had been one of Clinton's most dedicated supporters, an African-American congressman from Mississippi, and a senator from Colorado, a state central to the Democrats inroads into the Mountain West.

Hours before the roll call, Clinton told an emotional gathering of her delegates she was releasing them so that they could vote for Obama. Many in the crowded ballroom yelled back, "No!"

"I want you to know that this has been a joy," Clinton told them. "Yes, we didn't make it. But, boy, did we have a good time."

Material from the Associated Press was also used in this report.