DNC: Clinton delegate wavers

Brenda Krause held up a "Hillary for President" placard and marched down Colfax Avenue in Denver on Tuesday, surrounded by hundreds of diehard Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters.
Their signs declared they supported her "yesterday, today and tomorrow."

Krause chaired the Clinton campaign effort in El Paso County and came to the Democratic National Convention as the only Clinton delegate from Colorado Springs. She reveled in Clinton's prime-time speech Tuesday night on the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, in which she urged her supporters to vote for Obama.

Clinton's speech paved the way for a Krause to reconcile with her party.

"I'm still a little on the fence ... but if she's big enough to do that, maybe I can, too," Krause said.
Democrats like Krause - who supported Clinton and might not support Barack Obama - threaten to fracture the unity of the party, a party they say betrayed them. The attempt to curry their favor has become the primary drama of the Democratic National Convention.

The convention featured a prime spot at the podium for Hillary Clinton on Tuesday as well as a spot for former President Bill Clinton today. Michelle Obama on Monday praised Clinton, "who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters and sons can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher."

The 18 million votes Clinton earned in the primary make her supporters a powerful political prize that Obama must win and Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain would love to poach. Shortly after Joe Biden was chosen as Obama's running mate, McCain released an ad called "Passed Over" that laid bare the campaign's attempt to tap into Clinton supporters' anger: "She won millions of votes. But isn't on his ticket. Why? For speaking the truth."

Obama figures to win over most of Clinton's supporters, but not all.

"McCain, even though he's not my first choice, is who I'm voting for," said Phyllis Meeks of Colorado Springs, who was in the "18 million Voices" march on Tuesday. Her husband is stationed at Fort Carson, and she said they trust McCain more as commander-in-chief.

"He has the experience," she said. "He's been there."

That could be a problem for Democrats.

"In swing states like Ohio and Missouri it's not going to take a lot to change the winner, so it's a significant problem for Obama, said Joshua Dunn, political science professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. "If McCain can just carve out enough of a percentage (of Clinton supporters), he might be able to win.

"The situation is ripe for a Democrat to be elected, but they've tossed (McCain) a life preserver."
Krause stands between the Clinton supporters who have vowed to not vote for Obama, and the fired-up Obama delegates she accompanied to Denver.

The other delegates "know that I'm a lost cause," Krause said. "I know they're mad at me, but I'm not a politician.

"Obama is for change. He's for hope. If I just wanted a president with platitudes, anybody can do that."
Colorado Springs delegate Lynn Young said she's not mad, but she does hope Krause will change her mind about Obama.

"I'm actually feeling unity across the delegation," Young said. "I think it's just grown and it feels more like a team to me, a team that is fired up and ready to go."

Rep. Diana DeGette hammered on Krause at a champagne brunch at the governor's mansion to fall in line for the sake of unity and appointing Supreme Court justices favorable to the Democratic point of view.

Krause admits she's torn by internal conflict. She's still not over the Hill. Like most of her compatriots in the movement of Clinton supporters who never say die, she feels the media was sexist in coverage of Clinton, that she was cheated out of victory by the Obama campaign, and that she is the rightful nominee.

And yet, Krause is a believer in the Democratic platform.

"My mission is not to go against the Democratic Party. I believe in the Democratic Party," Krause said. "It's kind of like you're fighting with your own turf and that's uncomfortable."

Many Clinton supporters say they dreamed of having a woman in the White House, and now that is a dream deferred. Krause, 55, remembers fighting for women's rights, as did most of her fellow marchers. They were mostly white women of a certain age, with a healthy sprinkling of men and Latinas, and very few black women.

"I remember when women could only be teachers and nurses," Krause said. "When I went to grade school, I still wore a dress.

"Young women didn't have those experiences."
And so she's left deciding between two men, once again.

"I don't want to vote for McCain, I'm not a McCain fan," Krause said. "I want to leave the door open and see what happens between now and November."

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