In downtown Denver, rumors fly about roll call

Supporters of Hillary Clinton share tidbits of information about possible scenarios for a vote at the convention, and are worried.

Published August 25, 2008 10:14PM (EDT)

DENVER -- On Monday afternoon, as word spread of a rumored deal on a roll-call vote at the Democratic convention, the streets of downtown Denver were transformed into a giant game of telephone among Hillary Clinton's delegates and supporters.

"We're going to vote Wednesday morning at breakfast," said Michael Wagner, a Washington state Clinton delegate and one of the originators of the petition to put her name into nomination at the convention. "That's unprecedented, you know. There's going to be something on the floor, but they'll already have our votes tabulated."

Asked on a street corner why he thinks the vote is being conducted at breakfast, Wagner was interrupted by Sonya Jacquez Lewis, a Colorado delegate for Clinton, who interjected, "Because they want to hide the process." The way Jacquez Lewis had heard it, there might not be a roll call at all.

That seemed to be the rumor traveling down the 16th Street Mall, where another woman, who was carrying a large "Hillary for president" sign, could be heard shouting from across the street. "There's not going to be a roll call? Do they want to lose? They must want to lose," she said.


By Rebecca Traister

Rebecca Traister writes for Salon. She is the author of "Big Girls Don't Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women" (Free Press). Follow @rtraister on Twitter.

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