DENVER — The big question of the presidential election, says L. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, is not whether America is ready for a black president. Rather, he asks, "Are the Clintons ready?"
What Democratic candidate Barack Obama needs, says Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., is for Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton to provide a "Pee Wee Reese moment," referring to the white ballplayer who embraced Jackie Robinson when white baseball fans rained abuse on the pioneering Dodger.
As the Democratic National Convention began Monday, some black delegates who are pledged to Obama are unhappy -- even seething -- at what they say is weak support from the former president and first lady in the wake of a bitter primary campaign.
Their anger is the latest turn in the ongoing rivalry between the Clinton and Obama camps, a breach Democrats must repair if they are to win over lagging Clinton supporters. It is boiling over at an inopportune time -- with the race against Republican John McCain tightening to a dead heat and the Obama campaign hoping that this week's Democratic gathering will convey a sense of unity and momentum.
Instead, in interviews with delegates and aides to the rival camps, it was clear Monday that tensions have only swelled since the heat of a primary competition fraught with racial, gender and generational differences. Obama backers are frustrated that the Clintons do not seem willing to let go of their 16-year dominance of the Democratic Party, while Clinton aides complained privately that the young presumed nominee is not paying them proper respect -- a tension heightened by the revelation that Obama never seriously considered his rival as a running mate.
The mutual frustration comes amid reports that Bill Clinton and the Obama camp are at odds over the substance of the former president's speech to the convention Wednesday. That report led to a joint unity statement on Monday.
"There is absolutely no cause for this, no reason for this continuing divide," said Wilder, the former Virginia governor who is now mayor of Richmond. "Do you want to win or not?"
In an interview conducted before he took part in a panel on race sponsored by Politico, Wilder laughed off the argument forwarded by Clintonites that the couple endorsed Obama and have promised to deliver gracious speeches. The New York senator, Wilder countered, could easily signal to her supporters the gravity of the situation.
