Clinton fans come around as Dems in Ohio join to support Obama

By JOE HALLETT

Obamamania?

Well, it might take awhile.

For sure, the 2,000 party activists attending the Ohio Democratic Party’s annual dinner last night at the Ohio State Fairgrounds are behind their presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

But after a prolonged and sometimes bitter primary battle against Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, some of the faithful are swallowing hard, opting for a slow embrace of Obama rather than a warm hug.

“I’m coming out of my mourning period,” said Katie McGlynn, 61, of Marietta, a Clinton supporter and former 14-year Democratic member of Marietta City Council.

Clinton beat Obama by 8 percentage points in the March 4 Ohio primary election, and it’s a safe bet that a hearty share of the Democrats in the Celeste Center had been Clinton supporters. Still, unity was the theme as Gov. Ted Strickland and a parade of other statewide elected Democrats — an endangered species just four years ago — pledged to deliver Ohio for Obama against Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee.

“We’re coming together behind Barack Obama, and for the first time since 1996 a Democrat is going to win Ohio en route to the presidency of the United States,” said Chris Redfern, state Democratic Party chairman.

“I will work my heart out for him,” said Strickland, who had endorsed Clinton.

Obama supporters were assured: “I see a unification here that I haven’t seen in the past,” said William Caldwell, 54, of Beavercreek, director of the music program at Central State University.

Some of the party members attending the Democratic dinner said Obama has work to do to reach out to Ohioans, especially in Appalachian Ohio and rural areas where Clinton and former President Bill Clinton have campaigned heavily.

“We need to see him,” said Jane Crumrine, 56, a school counselor from Marietta.

Shirley Woodford, 60, an insurance saleswoman from Caldwell, supported Clinton in the primary and said she has “a few reservations” about Obama — especially whether he has enough experience to be president.

But Woodford said she plans to vote for Obama this fall because she thinks the country needs a change in direction, and that voting for McCain wouldn’t be the answer.

“I can’t cut off my nose to spite my face,” Woodford said.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, daughter of former Ohio Gov. John J. Gilligan and the event’s keynote speaker, said in an interview with The Dispatch that any lingering bitterness among Clinton supporters is understandable, but that Clinton “is making it clear to anyone that there is absolutely no choice between Barack Obama and John McCain.”

Sebelius said in the two weeks since Clinton suspended her campaign “Democrats are very clearly coming together” behind Obama, and she dismissed notions that McCain could pick off disgruntled Clinton supporters.

“If we want to honor Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, the best possible way to do that is to support Barack Obama,” Sebelius said. “It strikes me as ludicrous that the way to honor her candidacy is to support John McCain.”

Jason Mauk, executive director of the Ohio Republican Party, contended that disenchanted Clinton backers are giving McCain a hard look.

“I am amazed at the level of interest we continue to get from Hillary Clinton supporters,” Mauk said. “These are voters who are not satisfied with their party’s presumptive nominee and for various reasons they’re rallying behind John McCain. It speaks volumes about Sen. McCain’s crossover appeal.”