US Election: Hillary Clinton's Name to Be Placed in Nomination at Democratic Convention

Hillary Clinton's name is to be put on the ballot at the Democrats' convention in Denver this month in a symbolic gesture intended to solidify the party's support around Barack Obama.

The move, which was announced in a joint statement yesterday from Obama and Clinton, offers the prospect that convention delegates will actually have an occasion to vote for the nominee, after several years when the gathering served merely as a coronation.

However, it is envisaged as an entirely symbolic vote, with Clinton herself expected to throw her support towards Obama, and to urge her supporters to do the same.

Obama said the vote, which will be held on the third day of the convention, was intended to recognize that Clinton had come farther than any other woman in her run for the White House.

"I am convinced that honoring Senator Clinton's historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong united fashion," Obama said in a joint statement issued with Clinton.

For her part, Clinton said the move would help unite the party around Obama.

"With every voice heard and the party strongly united, we will elect Senator Obama president of the United States and put our nation on the path to peace and prosperity once again," Clinton said in the statement.

The gesture is the latest in a series of measures undertaken by the Obama campaign to placate Clinton and her most fervent supporters.

In an attempt to win over those supporters, Democratic officials have edged closer towards Clinton's positions in the convention manifesto. They have also incorporated language denouncing sexism, which Clinton's supporters blame as a factor in her defeat, as well as praise for Bill Clinton's leadership.

The two Clintons have also been guaranteed prime time speaking slots on successive nights of the convention.

Behind the scenes, however, Democratic organizers have been less conciliatory, and a number of delegates who have said they intend to continue backing Clinton have been replaced by Obama supporters.

That ambivalence also extended to Clinton.

Although Clinton has campaigned for Obama, and issued repeated public calls for her supporters to back his run for the White House, in more intimate gatherings she has indicated she still has mixed feelings about his candidacy.

At a fundraiser in California late last month, she told donors that it was hard to let go after the long campaign. She also said she thought that her supporters needed the "catharsis" of a convention ballot to reconcile them to her primary defeat.

But even a ballot may not win over some of Clinton's diehard supporters who are making plans for two days of protests at the convention.