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Small in number but big on excitement, Obama delegates ready for convention Saturday, Aug 23, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - There are so few Barack Obama delegates from Arkansas they wouldn't even fill one row of seats at Denver's Pepsi Center. Eight Arkansans, yes, just eight, have pledged to vote to nominate Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, at the Democratic National Convention that runs Monday through Thursday. The Obama delegates are outnumbered 4-to-1 by their Arkansas counterparts pledged to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the state's former first lady who claimed 70 percent of the vote in the February primary. While outmanned, they're not outmatched in spirit, said state Rep. Stephanie Flowers of Pine Bluff. Flowers, 55, said Obama was the most viable choice among the contenders in a crowded Democratic field. She's attending a national convention for the first time because it's the first time she's been sure her party has picked the right candidate. "I'm so excited I can't really put it into words," Flowers said earlier this month. Another Obama delegate, David Whitaker of Fayetteville, shared her sentiment. "It's a little startling to know I'll be there," said Whitaker, also a first-time delegate. "I'd be lying to you if I told you we weren't getting excited." Neither expects much friction with the 30-plus Clinton delegates in the Arkansas delegation. Most Clinton supporters have vowed to vote to nominate Obama only after Sen. Clinton's name is formally placed into nomination during the convention. Generally, the state's Clinton delegates said Democrats will unify behind Obama's candidacy at that point. "I think they will be supportive of Sen. Obama, at least I'm hopeful that they will," Flowers said. "I haven't sensed they are not." She drew distinctions between Obama and John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. Whitaker said Obama and Clinton shared ideological views, attributing the overwhelming Clinton support in Arkansas to her living in the state for more than a decade. "Her support in Arkansas was because of a long history with the Clintons," Whitaker said. "I don't think it will be a hard sell," for Clinton supporters to embrace Obama. Whitaker himself joined the Obama camp last year when the 47-year-old Fayetteville assistant city attorney researched the presidential candidates. Initially, Whitaker hoped native Arkansan Wesley Clark would enter the race. When he didn't, he eyed Obama, whose message resonated with Whitaker. It didn't hurt that both are attorneys and Whitaker's just four months older than the freshman senator from Illinois. "I became most comfortable with Sen. Obama," he said. Other Obama delegates from Arkansas are Kedrin Edgerson of Craighead County, County Clerk Pat O'Brien, Charles King, Annie Abrams and Omaya Jones, all of Pulaski County, and Valecia Pumphrey of Miller County. Obama is expected to accept the Democratic nomination at Invesco Field, Denver's 75,000-seat football stadium. His address Thursday is on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. "I can't even imagine what that's going to be like, other than just startling and historical," Whitaker said. "The fact that the speech if falling on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King's speech is just amazing." Despite his Obama backing, Whitaker said he hopes to meet the Clintons while in Denver. With the Delaware delegation staying in the same suburban hotel as Arkansas', Whitaker may seek face time with Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., too. "Who knows? I'm still half expecting Bruce Springsteen to show up," he quipped. Whitaker's wife, Lisa, will accompany him to the convention and the dozens of receptions and meetings that accompany the quadrennial event. Active in John Kerry's failed 2004 campaign, Whitaker said he would have tried for a delegate spot to that convention if he had been involved in the party for a longer time. He now serves on the Washington County Democratic central committee. Flowers has been involved in politics throughout her life, counting her father, the late William Harold Flowers Sr., as an inspiration. He was an alternate delegate to the 1956 GOP convention in San Francisco. She still has his metal pin and ribbon designating him as a convention participant 52 years ago. When asked what her father would think about her trip to the Democratic convention this year, she said: "I think my dad is smiling, just like me." |
