Democratic platform writers reach out to Clinton

CLEVELAND - Supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton drafting the Democratic platform displayed a get-along, unified front Friday as the party looks to put the bruising presidential primary campaign behind it.

The drafting committee heard from policy experts Friday after soliciting ideas at 1,600 gatherings throughout the country over the past month.

As the Ohio hearings neared, Clinton supporters said backers of presumptive presidential nominee Obama were reaching out on a daily basis to give her voice to part of the platform, particularly on health care and working families, two mainstays of her campaign.

The platform draft will be written Saturday and Sunday and goes before the full platform committee next week in Pittsburgh.

"The most encouraging thing is she has been listened to," said Chris Jennings, a member of the platform drafting committee and a Clinton backer.

"I think there's a recognition she has a lot of supporters out there and they need to reach out as she's reaching out to him (Obama)," said Jennings, a former top health care adviser to President Bill Clinton.

Michael Yaki, an Obama backer who is national platform director, said both sides had worked together well, mindful that any primary campaign differences shrink in comparison to those with Republicans and presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.

"We've worked together and there are a number of Clinton supporters on the platform committee itself," Yaki said as the drafting committee opened the hearings.

Both political parties produce a platform as a statement of principles each presidential election year.

The Republican platform committee meets in late August to develop a draft to present to the GOP convention beginning Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minn. The GOP solicited online platform suggestions and video submissions for platform writers.

Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers of America, was the second witness to testify before the Democratic Party draft committee headed by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. He dismissed the suggestion of continued Obama-Clinton rivalry as "narrow and shallow."

Gerard, whose union backed former Sen. John Edwards in the primaries, said he felt the pain of a failed candidacy and offered advice for die-hard Clinton supporters.

If you're in it just to support a specific candidate, Gerard said, "you're doing it for the wrong reason. Anybody who's in it ought to be in it for what's best for the country. You ought to believe in the democratic process. The democratic process chose Sen. Obama and I think it was a good choice."

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On the Net:

Democrats: http://www.democrats.org

GOP platform: http://www.gopplatform2008.com

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