Hillary Muscled Out of the Way at the Convention

I have to think the pro-Hillary/anti-Obama sites are going to be steaming about this:

Hillary Clinton has decided against being nominated for President at the Democrats' Denver convention, but many of her more die-hard partisans may vote for her anyway.

A source close to the New York senator confirmed she won't file a formal request to the convention asking to be nominated along with Barack Obama, who eked out the victory in their fierce primary slugfest.

"She is not going to submit the signed request," the insider told the Daily News. "People are still circulating petitions on her behalf, but this is a done deal."

Party rules stipulate that Clinton must ask in writing to be nominated herself and also submit a petition signed by 300 to 600 delegates. Without her signed request, petitions of support are meaningless.

Her nomination would be window dressing because Obama's nomination is assured. But many of Clinton's most ardent boosters believe it's symbolically important to certify her glass ceiling-shattering candidacy with a formal nomination.

Nevertheless, delegates can vote for whomever they want during the roll call of the states. Personally and through surrogates, Clinton has counseled her 1,886 delegates to vote for Obama. A source familiar with discussions inside the Clinton camp told The News she may release those delegates when she speaks to the convention on Aug. 26.

"Depending on the dynamics, hundreds of delegates might decide to demonstrate their support and affection," a Clinton source speculated.

It looks like the Obamessiah Über Alles crowd has managed to convince Hillary that she's to be only a bit player at the Democrat Convention despite beating Obama like a drum in nearly every significant primary during the last three months of the campaign. She probably had to make this concession to gain her prime time keynote address on Tuesday night, or perhaps a promise of a Supreme Court nomination in the future. Either way, this is not going to play well with the ardent Hillary supporters, and will only harden their dislike of Obama.

Good.

And because she's giving the keynote address, you can take her name off the VP list. They wouldn't give that spot to someone still under consideration for Vice President.