Hillary Clinton's Name to be Placed in Nomination

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder is reporting that the Clinton and Obama campaigns are just ironing out a few details in a plan that will have Hillary Clinton's name placed in nomination alongside Barack Obama's.

Reports of strife between negotiators for Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are exaggerated and the two sides are nearing an agreement on how Clinton's delegates will participate in the formal nominating process at the Democratic National Convention, according to advisers to both Democrats.

According to several people who have spoken with her, Clinton originally believed that if her name were included in the roll call on Wednesday, August 27, she would inevitably wind up with fewer delegates than the 1896.5 she earned from the primaries. That would look bad and could demoralize her supporters.

In negotiations this summer with Obama's campaign, Clinton's team did not ask for Clinton's name to be submitted.

As I wrote this story, both campaigns released a joint statement confirming that a deal has been reached. The full statement follows this story.

Lest any of Senator Clinton's more "intense" supporters, and the Republicans who have found common cause with them, are imagining a coup on the figurative steps of the Senate, rest assured that Senator Clinton's original assessment was correct. As Ambinder notes, Hillary will have the chance to release her delegates to Senator Obama once her name is submitted. To avoid the embarrassment of delegate erosion, she may well opt to do just that.

Politically savvy Clinton supporters have known all along that supporting Barack Obama was the only way to proceed, for the good of both the Democrats and Hillary Clinton. There's an excellent chance that, if the votes are counted, a large number of them will have switched in order to inoculate against chaos.

Yes to Democracy has a really thorough breakdown of what a "Miracle in Denver" would do to Senator Clinton and the Democrats, and what it would do for the Republicans.

The third choice is what "The Denver Group" and some of the PUMA-types are hoping for. In some of their boards, they're already claiming many delegates have done just that and "flipped" to Sen. Clinton. So, let's say, for the sake of argument, that they flip 334 or more delegates, switching the presumptive nominee from Sen. Obama to Sen. Clinton. PUMA and the Denver Group get their wish. They cheer, believing their faith and the rightness of their cause have led the day, and that the Democratic party will now unify behind the chosen nominee, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

And the convention explodes. Such a thing would be political suicide for ANYONE who got the nomination. I strongly doubt Sen. Clinton would even WANT to touch a nomination tainted in such a way. And I think Sen. Clinton knows this. I don't think she would accept the nomination under such circumstances, and it's becoming obvious she doesn't support such efforts. She is doing her part to help unify the party behind Sen. Obama, and deserves both honor and respect for that.

The stakes in this election have been raised even higher for Senator Clinton. With the recent revelation of internal memos from her campaign that outline a deeply divisive strategy that was only half-used, but which lives on in conservative attacks on Senator Obama, a Democratic loss would place a heavy scapegoat's burden on Clinton. The success of a whispering campaign like Penn's depends on maintaining deniability, which the memos destroy.

The fact that Senator Clinton resisted the more insidious portions of the "Penn" memos, whose tactics were executed in part by end-running leakers, will do little to lessen the impact. Although it creditably belies her "anything to win" image, she also has a share in the blame for not exercising better control of her staff.

There were those on the Obama side of the "roll call" question who regarded Senator Clinton suspiciously, especially after her remarks at a fundraiser last week. When cast in the light of the bigger picture, however, her remarks about a roll-call allowing "catharsis" make a lot of sense. If her name was not submitted, her most loyal supporters would have felt the sting of that "...what if?"

Now, at least, they'll get an answer to that, even if it's one they don't want to hear.

As a post-script, check this out to see how John McCain treats those who do flip from Hillary to the other side.

The Obama and Clinton campaigns released this statement today:

"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," said Senator Barack Obama.

Senator Obama's campaign encouraged Senator Clinton's name to be placed in nomination as a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran and the fact that she was the first woman to compete in all of our nation's primary contests.

"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," said Senator Hillary Clinton.

Senator Obama and Senator Clinton are looking forward to a convention unified behind Barack Obama as the Party's nominee and to victory this fall for America.