Cal delegates prepare for Democratic nomination

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In California, the nation's most populous state, the single largest bloc of committed delegates for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had a feisty message for the Democratic presidential hopeful this weekend: hang tough and stay in the race.But her supporters and those backing Sen. Barack Obama in California -- who will join together to form the largest delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer -- agreed that party unity is paramount and that Democrats must come together to beat the likely GOP nominee, John McCain.California's 370 pledged delegates and 71 superdelegates -- 16 of them still uncommitted -- convened in Sacramento over the weekend to conduct party business, including electing Sen. Dianne Feinstein as chair of the delegation.With primaries this week in Oregon and Kentucky, the conflicted loyalties of delegates in California illustrated the challenges still ahead for Democrats.Supporters of Obama and Clinton met separately and together, and the tension that has marked the long contest was clearly on display."The feeling inside this room is that everybody wants to hang tough for Hillary," said Los Angeles celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, a pledged Clinton delegate.Dolores Huerta, the iconic co-founder of the United Farm Workers union who is also backing Clinton, was equally adamant. "The superdelegates need to make a decision on how we will win in November," she said. "That's the election we have to worry about ... and we still have a long way to go."But supporters of Obama, who appears on track to secure the nomination, repeatedly extended a hand of conciliation."The message is unity," said former state Controller Steve Westly, who co-chairs the Obama delegation.He said a meeting of Obama supporters underscored "that we should come, not prepared to fight, but to be gracious to the Clinton people."Bernita Jenkins, an Obama delegate from Bakersfield, agreed. "We're all Democrats in the end," she said. "This will be the greatest Democratic convention ever."Party officials like state chair Art Torres said that whatever divisions exist in the Democratic presidential contest, the GOP has no reason to exult."If the Republicans don't have a clue about what's going to happen in November, I have one word for them -- Mississippi, baby," Torres said. The remark, greeted by cheers from Democrats, referred to the party's win last week of a special election for a House seat in a conservative district in that decidedly red state.He said Democrats may be at the end of a heated contest, but "they know what's at stake -- the future of this nation, and the end of the Iraq war." While the competition between Clinton and Obama has been bloody, Torres said that it has benefited the party, especially on the voters rolls, in counties like San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego, where Democratic numbers have risen dramatically. Torres -- who as party chair must remain uncommitted -- said that with the tight race putting the focus on Democratic issues, "Why tell her to get out?"But Torres predicted that the Democratic contest would be resolved before the Denver convention in late July.In California, which favored Clinton by 52-42 percent, the delegation also favors her 204-166. The majority of the state's 71 superdelegates, who are elected officials and party leaders, are also with Clinton -- though they can change at any time. (E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci(at)sfchronicle.com)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)