PUMA

The Democrats arriving for their convention in Denver, Colorado, intend to promote party unity and use this set piece event to launch their march on the White House. But the truth is that mistrust and deep seated resentment simmer dangerously near the surface throughout the top echelons of the presumptive Presidential nominee Barack Obama and his defeated but still dangerous rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Some of her more extreme supporters formed a pressure group called PUMA, which is an acronym for Part Unity My Ass. They would do virtually anything to replace Obama with Hillary Clinton. This group may be untypical but does represent quite a few people within the party machine who are firmly convinced that Obama cannot win the Presidency.

The selection of Senator Joe Biden has done nothing to damp down the heat beneath the simmering tension between the Obama and Clinton camps that have simply failed to be reconciled since the Primaries. There have been various attempts to mend these broken fences but they have not been effective, the result is that senior Democrats are demonstrating ever-clearer signs of increasing concern about this fault line.

Obviously both the Clintons will be expected to make speeches loudly praising the Presidential aspirations of Barack Obama, and it is certain that they will duly oblige. However it’s what will really be happening behind the scenes that fascinates. In my view the likelihood is that the Clintons are demanding some quid pro quo for their wholehearted support of the Obama election campaign.

An initial major flashpoint is the designated set piece speech for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention’s theme will be “Securing America’s Future.”

The duty of that night’s speakers is to argue that Obama would be a more effective commander in chief than his Republican rival, and Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war, Sen. John McCain.

Associates of the former president are disappointed, because his wish is to speak about the economy and more broadly about Democratic ideas — emphasizing the contrast between the Bush years and his own, more successful economic record in the 1990s. Last night at a pre Convention event was the first time that Obama alluded to the fact that during the Bill Clinton Presidency Americans became, on average $6,000 better off financially whereas under George W. Bush they are $1,000 poorer.

This is a very big issue for Bill Clinton, his friends and political allies say, because chief among the many grievances he harbors about Barack Obama’s campaign Obama against Hillary is Bill’s firm conviction that the candidate bad-mouthed the political and policy successes of his two terms in office. Bill Clinton cannot and will not accept anyone messing with his political legacy.

Senior Democrats who are close to Obama, equally, made very clear in unattributed comments that they feel equally riled by the entire Clinton camp and it’s unhelpful attitude.

So, we find ourselves, nearly three months after Hillary Clinton conceded defeat in the nomination contest, these Obama partisans complained, with her team continuing to act like she and Bill Clinton hold more leverage than they actually do.

Earlier this month there was a short period when the two sides appeared to be working collegially over strategy, scheduling, and other convention logistics, things have turned sour again in more recent days.

Many of the most senior Obama supporters are clearly more than irritated at how they understand the Clintons fanned — or at a minimum failed to damp down — the many stories that Hillary was not even vetted as a possible vice presidential nominee. This, a senior Obama associate claimed, is simply due to the fact that Hillary told Obama she preferred not to go through the rigorous document production process unless she was really going to be a serious contender.

One senior Obama associate made the point that the Clinton camp were still trying to negotiate for her like “Japanese soldiers in the South Pacific still fighting after the war is over.” Maybe the truth is we’re just about to find out how deep the divisions really are, whatever Hillary or Bill say, or how wide the smiles of all the major protagonists in this incomplete saga might be.