Party taps Clinton for historic ticket

Sanders caps roll of states with call to nominate her

At the convention Tuesday night, former President Bill Clinton recounts his years with Hillary Clinton. “Hillary opened my eyes to a whole new world of public service by private citizens,” he said.
At the convention Tuesday night, former President Bill Clinton recounts his years with Hillary Clinton. “Hillary opened my eyes to a whole new world of public service by private citizens,” he said.

PHILADELPHIA -- Hillary Clinton captured the Democratic nomination for president Tuesday night, the first woman ever to lead a major political party in the race for the White House.

The former secretary of state formally secured the nomination during the roll call of states at the Democratic National Convention, which ended with her primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, asking that the rules be suspended and Clinton be declared the nominee by acclamation, a move that prompted resounding cheers.

"I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States," Sanders declared.

The second night of the Democratic convention featured former President Bill Clinton, who took the stage for his 10th convention address, this time serving as character witness for his wife. Taking on the role of devoted political spouse, he declared his wife an impassioned "change-maker."

During the roll call of states, Clinton had secured the 2,383 delegates needed to lock down the party's nomination when the South Dakota delegation cast its votes.

It was a striking parallel to the role Clinton played eight years ago when she stepped to the microphone on the convention floor in Denver in support of her former rival, Barack Obama.

This time, Clinton shattered the glass ceiling she couldn't crack in 2008. And in November, she will take on Donald Trump, nominated last week at the Republican convention in Cleveland.

Clinton's landmark achievement saturated the roll call with emotion and symbols of women's long struggle to break through political barriers. Jerry Emmett, a 102-year-old woman born before women had the right to vote, cast the ballots for Arizona.

When Illinois -- Clinton's birthplace -- got its chance, the honor of casting votes was given to her childhood friend Betsy Ebeling.

"On this historic, wonderful day, in honor of Dorothy and Hugh's daughter and my sweet friend -- I know you're watching," Ebeling said, her voice heavy with emotion. "This one's for you Hill."

Hillary Clinton was not in Philadelphia for the roll call, and instead watched the speeches from her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., aides said. The candidate and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, are scheduled to address the convention Thursday.

The now-nominated candidate did make an appearance by video, capping the night, by declaring, "We just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet."

Clinton's name was put forth for nomination by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., the dean of women senators, who said the nomination was "on behalf of all the women who have broken down barriers."

Mikulski was seconded by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who referred to another "glass ceiling" that was broken with Obama's nomination and election eight years ago, and by Na'ilah Amaru, a Clinton supporter and Iraq veteran who won an online contest to nominate the candidate.

Martha McKenna, a Clinton delegate from Maryland, said the night felt like a celebration for Sanders' campaign as well as Clinton's. She added, "The idea that I'm going to be here when the first woman president is nominated is overwhelming."

The Democratic convention drew the party's biggest stars to sweltering Philadelphia for the weeklong event. On Monday night, first lady Michelle Obama made an impassioned case for Clinton as the only candidate in the presidential race worthy of being a role model for the nation's children. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will speak today, along with Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Clinton's running mate.

Eyes on Bill

But it was Bill Clinton who had the spotlight Tuesday night, opening his speech as he traced his relationship with his wife back more than 40 years, recalling in great detail the first time he spotted her on campus and the impact she had on pushing him into politics.

"I met a girl," he said.

He then wandered down his well-trodden memory lane, describing how he met Hillary Clinton as a law student at Yale University in 1971. He said she walked up to him and told him that if he was going to stare at her, he ought to know her name. "We've been walking and talking and laughing together ever since."

Bill Clinton used his address to tell delegates details of Hillary's early life and work before the couple entered public life.

The former president moved on to praise his late mother-in-law and Hillary's youth minister as essential influences on his wife's life and values. Dorothy Rodham "had a childhood that made mine look like a piece of cake," he said.

He also praised Hillary's faith as leading to her support for civil rights and her opposition to the Vietnam War, adding that those decisions led her to abandon the Republican Party and become a Democrat.

"Hillary opened my eyes to a whole new world of public service by private citizens," he said. "She's been worth every single year she's put into making people's lives better."

Emphasizing her work, he recalled her work on children's issues in the South as Arkansas' first lady and on voter registration in Texas.

He said she embraced their early years of marriage in Arkansas, even though it was "more culturally conservative" than anywhere she'd ever lived before.

The former president has campaigned frequently for his wife during the White House race, but mostly in smaller cities and towns, part of an effort by the campaign to keep him in a more behind-the-scenes role.

During Hillary Clinton's first presidential campaign in 2008, her husband angered some Democrats with comments about Obama. This year, he -- and she -- were criticized after he met privately with Attorney General Loretta Lynch in the middle of the FBI's investigation into her email use at the State Department.

'Bernie or bust'

Tuesday night wasn't all celebratory. Moments after Clinton claimed the nomination, a group of Sanders supporters left the convention -- chanting, "Walkout" -- and headed to a media tent to protest what they said was their being shut out of the party. As the program continued, most of the seats in delegations from Maine, Kansas, Alaska and Oklahoma -- all states Sanders won against Clinton -- were empty.

Several Oregon delegates, meanwhile, wrapped black cloth around their jaws, as gags, and headed into the hallway of the Wells Fargo Center. There they met dozens of angry delegates from other states, including Norman Solomon, a California delegate for Sanders who had been trying to organize a new Bernie Delegates Network into just this sort of protest.

Earlier, several hundred gathered at Philadelphia's City Hall under a blazing sun chanting "Bernie or bust."

Trump cheered the disruptions from the campaign trail. In North Carolina, he told a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that, "our politicians have totally failed you."

The anger of the protesters was fueled in part by leaked emails showing that some Democratic National Committee staff members discussed ways to help Clinton and hurt Sanders in the primaries. The party's chairman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, announced her resignation Monday after the revelations.

Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, said Tuesday morning that Democrats "need to move on" from infighting over the outcome of the primary.

Sanders doubled-down on his support for Clinton on Tuesday morning. Speaking at a breakfast meeting of the California delegation, he dismissed the boos of supporters and urged them to back her.

"It is easy to boo, but it is harder to look your kids in the face" if Trump becomes president because Democrats didn't support the ticket, he said.

Sanders also confirmed on Tuesday that he will return to the Senate as an independent, not a Democrat.

"I was elected as an independent so I'll stay two years more as an independent," he told reporters. As the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history, Sanders had only declared himself a Democrat when he entered the presidential race last year.

Mothers, guns and 9/11

Speakers appearing throughout the second night of the convention offered testimonials about Clinton's character and public service across a range of areas.

The "Fights Of Her Life" segments focusing on Clinton's accomplishments were interspersed with videos featuring Trump's comments opposing abortion and bemoaning that women's pregnancies hurt businesses.

Among those pledging support were the "mothers of the movement" -- several black women whose children were victims of gun violence. Clinton has met privately with the mothers and held events with them, and they've become an emotional force for her campaign.

"Hillary Clinton has the passion and understanding to support grieving mothers," said Sybrina Fulton, whose son Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012. "She has the courage to lead the fight for commonsense gun legislation.

She added, "Hillary is one mother who can ensure our movement will succeed."

Also taking the stage Tuesday were former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Pittsburgh Chief of Police Cameron McLay, who said it is possible "to respect and support our police while at the same time pushing for these important criminal justice reforms."

Clinton has made gun safety one of the foundations of her presidential campaign, vowing to overcome the resistance of gun-rights advocates and their GOP allies to push for expanded criminal-background checks and a renewal of a ban on assault weapons.

Several other speakers at the convention paid tribute to Clinton's work -- while she was a New York senator -- in helping New Yorkers after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The testimonials came from a New York City police detective, a New York congressman and a woman who spent more than six months in the hospital recovering from burns suffered in the attack.

Lauren Manning told the delegates that Clinton "had my back. This is the Hillary Clinton I want you to know."

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also addressed the delegates, focusing on the GOP's White House nominee. She said Trump has "already done damage just by running for president." She added that the New York businessman has a "strange admiration for dictators" and that a Trump victory in November "would be a gift" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Information for this article was contributed by Julie Pace, Catherine Lucey, Kathleen Hennessey, Kathleen Ronayne, Ken Thomas and Matthew Daly of The Associated Press and by John Wagner, Ed O'Keefe, David Weigel, Louisa Loveluck, Abby Phillip, Lois Romano and Vanessa Williams of The Washington Post.

A Section on 07/27/2016




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Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane (left), embrace Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii after Gabbard, as a formality, put forward Sanders’ name for the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday in Philadelphia.

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Carrie Pugh (from left), Katrina Mendiola and Mayors Wegmann celebrate in tears Tuesday as Hillary Clinton officially becomes the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party.

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Former President Bill Clinton speaks Tuesday during the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

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