Hillary Clinton not interested in being nominated President' at Democrats convention

New York, Aug.1 : New York's junior Senator Hillary Clinton has decided against being nominated for President at the Democrats' Denver convention, but many of her more die-hard partisans say that they may vote for her anyway.

A source close to Clinton 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. People are still circulating petitions on her behalf, but this is a done deal," the New York Daily News quoted the insider, as saying.

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 counselled 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 August 26.

Other Clinton backers, however, worry that she could be embarrassed by a roll call because many of her delegates already have switched to Obama.

"Hillary Clinton is 100% committed to helping Barack Obama become the next President of the United States and realizes there are passionate feelings that remain among many of her supporters," said Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand. "No decisions have been made at this time.

Meanwhile, an effort is on to urge Obama to pick Clinton as his running mate, but other signals suggest that this option is being shut down under the assumption that she is not a contender for the No. 2 spot. Adam Parkhomenko and Sam Arora wrote in an e-mail that Senator Obama has made his decision to offer the slot on the ticket to another candidate, and that they believed that continuing to ask him to pick Hillary was no longer helpful to the Democratic Party's chances of winning in November.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the campaign won't comment on the vice presidential search and hasn't finalized the convention speaking program.

Parkhomenko and Arora have a combined 10 years experience working for Clinton. Most recently Arora was a press aide to her presidential campaign and Parkhomenko was executive assistant to former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who is now chief of staff for Obama's yet-to-be named vice presidential nominee.

Obama said this week that he wants a running mate who will help him change how business has been conducted in Washington.

ANI