Hillary does her best – but is it enough?

Hillary Clinton finally wrapped up her own campaign for the presidency and unequivocally endorsed Barack Obama in a powerful speech to the Democratic convention in Denver last night. First reactions were that she had "hit a home run" and done all she could to unify the party. Political consultant David Gergen called it "perhaps her finest hour in politics". It was, said CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "exactly what Barack and Michelle Obama wanted to hear".

But while it won over many of her supporters among the delegates, others interviewed on the floor of the Pepsi Center during and after the speech made it clear they would never be satisfied, supporting recent polls which show that fewer than 50 per cent of Clinton voters are now "solidly behind" Obama and many are prepared to vote for Republican John McCain rather switch allegiance from Hillary.

Watched by her husband Bill, ensconsed in a skybox, - who according to rumours, will not be hanging around for Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday - Clinton spoke for 25 minutes, interrupted repeatedly by bursts of applause from her own and Obama's supporters. She opened by saying: "I am honoured to be here tonight. A proud mother. A proud Democrat. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama."

Showing no hint of resentment, she continually called for party unity. "We are on the same team and none of us can sit on the sidelines," she said.

She heaped scorn on McCain, saying, "We don't need four more years of the last eight years." A McCain victory, she said, would lead to economic contraction and global political turmoil. "No way. No how. No McCain."

She got in some jokes too, referring to her core supporters as "my sisterhood of the traveling pants". And she was gracious to Michelle Obama, following her speech on Monday, calling her "a terrific partner" for her husband and saying she "will be a great First Lady for America."

So, how did she do? James Clyburn, a congressman from South Carolina, asked whether Clinton had accomplished what she needed to, said: "Absolutely, no question about it. I don¹t think it'll stop here, it'll keep going."

Yet, as the Washington Post put it, "even a tremendous speech couldn't erase the frustrations" of Clinton's supporters, many of whom remained divided as to how they should proceed.

Jerry Straughan, a professor from California, found the speech sadly predictable. "It's a tactic," he said. "Who knows what she really thinks? With all the missteps that have taken place, this is the only thing she could do. So, yes, I'm still bitter."

JoAnn Enos, from Minnesota, decided she would follow Clinton's urging and get behind Obama - "because that's what Hillary wants." Terie Norelli, New Hampshire's House speaker, said: "I've never been prouder of a Democrat than I was tonight" and that the speech made her want to work hard for an Obama victory in November.

But there were many like Adita Blanco, a Democrat from Oklahoma, who were never going to be pacified. "I hate Obama so much that I'm going to devote as much time to McCain as I did to Hillary," she said. "Obama has nothing. He has no experience."

Emphasising the Obama-Clinton divide, many influential Democrats - Bill Clinton said to be among them - were leaving Denver immediately after Clinton's speech, and others plan to be gone before Obama formally accepts the nomination on Thursday night.

They include many of the women from 18 Million Voices, the pro-Clinton campaign group, who have booked their air tickets home for today and Thursday because, as New York lawyer Elizabeth Feichter put it, "we really are taking a position of being indifferent to Obama.

LAST UPDATED 8:13 AM, AUGUST 27, 2008