Clintons poised for new US presidential campaign

Clintons poised for new US presidential campaign

PHILADELPHIA - Hillary Clinton stood poised to formally win her party's presidential nomination Tuesday, as her husband Bill was tasked with the speech of the night -- steeling fractious Democrats for the White House fight against Republican Donald Trump.

Former US president Bill Clinton will take center stage at the Democratic National Convention to reassure party members that his wife Hillary is the best candidate to take on Republican Donald Trump

Clinton will be proclaimed the party's nominee after a state-by-state roll call vote beginning at around 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) at the Democratic National Convention, making the former first lady and secretary of state the first female presidential candidate of a major US party.

Although the outcome is a foregone conclusion, the vote could be an occasion for rowdy displays on the convention floor by diehard Bernie Sanders delegates frustrated with their candidate's loss to Clinton in the primaries.

After a chaotic opening day Monday, the Clinton camp was looking to unite the party's factions, with negotiations underway about Sanders possibly announcing the votes from his state of Vermont during the roll call, and then moving to seek her nomination by unanimous acclamation.

"Our campaigns are working very closely together to bring our two teams together," Clinton spokeswoman Kristina Schake told CNN.

The Clinton campaign announced that Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, the longest serving woman in the history of the US Congress, will place Clinton's name in nomination.

Civil rights icon John Lewis, a congressman from Georgia, will second the nomination.

- 'Show a little class' -

Monday saw disruptive protests and a rancorous fight over leaked emails showing party bias against Sanders. Frustration boiled over as his delegates jeered speakers who mentioned Clinton.

Vice President Joe Biden, who will address the convention Wednesday along with President Barack Obama, dismissed concerns the party was not uniting behind Clinton.

"We've got to show a little class and let them be frustrated for a while. It's OK," he said of Sanders supporters as he toured the convention arena Tuesday.

Sanders meanwhile called on his supporters to get behind Clinton.

"What we must do, or forever look back in regret, is defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton," he said Tuesday while addressing the California delegation.

"In my view, it's easy -- it's easy to boo, but it is harder to look your kids in the face who would be living under a Donald Trump presidency," he said.

Trump took the usual shots at Clinton during a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Charlotte, North Carolina, calling her "Crooked Hillary" and charging that her use of a private email account as secretary of state "put America's entire national security at risk."

A Clinton campaign official said Tuesday's convention events in Philadelphia aim to draw a sharp contrast with Trump. The line-up of speakers will talk about her life-long fights to make a difference.

Chief among them will be former president Clinton, who will take the stage during primetime to hail his wife as a "change-maker," the official said.

But Clinton and the others -- including mothers who have lost children to gun violence or in clashes with police -- will also have the unstated mission of mending fences with Sanders' army of vocal young activists.

- 'I'm with her' -

Michelle Obama appeared to soothe some of the Sanders zealots Monday night, as she delivered a heartfelt endorsement from one first lady to another and hailed the inspirational prospect of a first female US president.

"In this election, I'm with her," Obama said.

She also praised how Clinton handled her defeat to Barack Obama eight years ago.

"She didn't get angry or disillusioned. Hillary did not pack up and go home," she said. "As a true public servant Hillary knows that this is so much bigger than her own desires and disappointments."

- From 'political revolution' to revolt -

Despite Sanders calling on his flock to get behind Clinton, his self-styled "political revolution" appears to have transformed into a revolt.

Sanders himself was booed by some sections of the audience when he told the crowd Monday: "Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president and I am proud to stand with her tonight."

Michigan delegate Charles Niswander, 28, said he and other Sanders delegates would never line up behind Clinton.

"None of them want her, the people who voted for Bernie," Niswander said.

The party is still reeling from leaked Democratic National Committee emails which show nominally neutral party staff trying to undermine Sanders' campaign and questioning his Jewish faith.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating the "cyber intrusion," which the Clinton campaign blamed on Russian hackers it said are bent on helping Trump.

Bill Clinton's highly anticipated address could jump-start the party healing process.

The 69-year-old Democratic icon and two-term president remains a powerful force on the national stage, although he is more gaunt and his energy is no longer boundless as it appeared four years ago.

At the 2012 Democratic convention, he delivered closing arguments for why Barack Obama should be re-elected, a voice of experience explaining Obama's policies in clear, cogent detail and why he felt Republican policies were failing.

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