Democrats preach party unity on convention eve

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

DENVER (Reuters) - Democrats preached party unity on Sunday on the eve of a four-day convention to nominate Barack Obama for the White House, with former rival Hillary Clinton preparing to urge her disgruntled supporters to back Obama.

More than 4,000 Democratic delegates and tens of thousands of officials, activists, protesters and journalists descended on Denver for the formal crowning of Obama, a first-term Illinois senator, as the party's leader and candidate for president.

About 1,000 Iraq war protesters rallied at the Colorado State Capitol and marched through the city streets to Denver's basketball arena, site of the first three days of the convention, where they dispersed without incident, police said.

Obama advisers played down the gathering's one potential note of discord -- the continued unhappiness among some supporters of Clinton, the New York senator who was narrowly beaten by Obama in a bitter nominating struggle.

Obama has tried to ease the tension, agreeing to let Clinton have her name placed in nomination and giving her a prime-time speaking slot on Tuesday night. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will speak on Wednesday night.

Clinton plans to speak to her delegates on Wednesday morning and urge them to support Obama ahead of a roll call vote on the nomination that night, a Democratic Party source said.

But anger over her treatment flared among her supporters again when Obama chose Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden as his running mate on Saturday -- and apparently never investigated putting her on the ticket.

"Look, he has a high regard for Senator Clinton," Obama adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "But he felt that Senator Biden would be the best fit for him at this time."

Obama spoke with both Clintons this week, and his advisers predicted any bruised feelings would heal by the time Obama delivers his acceptance speech before 80,000 at Denver's football stadium on Thursday.

The speech by Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, falls on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech -- a highlight of the 1960s civil rights movement.

"Senator Obama had a great conversation with Senator Clinton this week as well as former President Bill Clinton. Everybody's on board. And it's going to drive the media crazy when we come out of this convention united," said Obama strategist Robert Gibbs.

Obama, who was on the campaign trail on Sunday in the battleground state of Wisconsin, is running neck-and-neck with Republican White House rival John McCain in most national polls ahead of the November 4 election.

Republicans tried to fan the flames of a possible Clinton feud, launching a television ad featuring a series of her criticisms during the primary campaign.

'SPEAKING THE TRUTH'

"She won millions of votes but isn't on his ticket. Why? For speaking the truth," the narrator said, followed by Clinton's criticisms of Obama's lack of specificity on issues and questions about his relationship to convicted Chicago businessman Tony Rezko, a former fundraiser.