Will Hillary Clinton Release her Delegates?

Posted by John Nichols, The Nation at 12:00 AM on August 25, 2008.

Will Hillary Clinton's name actually be placed in nomination for the presidency on the third day of the Democratic National Convention?

And if the senator's name is placed in nomination, will there be an actual roll-call vote? Or will a call be made for the nomination of Barack Obama by acclamation?

Those are the last open questions of the convention that will open Monday in Denver.

On Wednesday afternoon, at 1 p.m., Clinton will gather her delegates, alternates and allies at the Colorado Convention Center.

A crowd of 5,000 is expected, according to Clinton aides and allies.

Clinton could issue a call to arms. And she has an agreement with the Obama campaign to go forward with the nomination and roll-call.

But Clinton and her aides are worried.

Many of her delegates have formally endorsed Obama, and more than a few plan to vote for him on that first ballot.

There is open discussion in the Clinton camp about what the embarrassment level might be?

What if her vote were to fall below the 1,219 secured by the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the 1988 Democratic National Convention?

Or the 596 that former California Governor Jerry Brown received at the 1992 convention -- the last to see nominations and a roll-call involving challengers to the eventual nominee?

Clinton is unlikely to risk it.

The New York senator can, and very probably will, release her delegates at the meeting Wednesday afternoon.

She has a super-delegate vote and she is now expected to announce that she will cast it for Obama.

Her 40 floor "whips" -- who have been polling and consulting with delegates -- would then encourage Clinton backers to follow the senator's lead.

If that happens, the contest for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination will formally be done before the roll-call vote.

That does not mean that, if a roll-call were to go forward, Clinton would get no votes.

But if Clinton is not nominated, votes cast for her could under convention rules be counted as "present." And there might not be all that many of them.

John Nichols writes about politics for The Nation magazine as its Washington correspondent.