Clinton to Police Her Devotees in Denver

Former candidate sets up 'whip team' to curb protests from loyalists
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 21, 2008 11:53 AM CDT
Clinton to Police Her Devotees in Denver
In this July 10, 2008, file photo Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, is introduced by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., during a campaign stop in New York.    (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Hillary Clinton is deploying a 40-member "whip team" at the Democratic convention in Denver to make sure her supporters do not cause a ruckus with anti-Obama demonstrations during the roll-call vote, reports Politico. The symbolic floor vote on Clinton's nomination is supposed to be an emotional "catharsis" for her backers, but not too emotional. Clinton joins Obama in wanting to present a unified Democratic front, she says.

"If people get down there on the floor and want to start blowing kazoos and making a scene we want to make sure we've got people who stand in front of them with Obama signs," says a longtime Clinton staffer, adding, "Is it typical for a losing candidate to have their own whip team? No. But it's not usual for a losing candidate to get 18 million votes either." (More Barack Obama stories.)

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