USA All eyes on Hillary Clinton at Democratic convention 26/08/08 19:30 CET

Hoping to heal the wounds of a bruising nomination battle, Hillary Clinton is taking centre stage at the US Democratic convention. She has already made a start on pushing party unity, urging die-hard supporters to back the Obama ticket.

“Now I ask each and every one of you to work as hard for Barack and Joe Biden as you would for me,” she told delegates from her home state of New York.

But burying the hatchet does not come easy for some. In one recent opinion poll, 27 percent of the former first lady’s loyalists said they would be backing Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.

Clinton supporter Gustavo Santos is not one of them. Having listened to her appeals, he seems convinced it is time to put lingering rifts to one side.

“Senator Hillary Clinton was very positive in saying that it is time for all of us to unite to elect Barack Obama as the next president,” he said.

Republicans are, of course, keen to highlight divisions. So Democrats must close ranks to make their dream of a White House return come true.