Opinion

HILLARY’S HELLIONS

‘WELL-behaved women rarely make history”: That old feminist rallying cry could be Hillary Clinton‘s new motto.

While in Denver to officially support Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, Sen. Clinton will headline an event hosted by WomenCount – formerly WomenCountPAC, a group founded by Clinton loyalists during the primaries to push back against calls for her to drop out and to condemn the sexist coverage of the race. In Denver, it will relaunch as a “MoveOn.org for women’s issues and ideas.”

Bet the Obama people are just thrilled.

Not that they don’t support women’s issues; they have to. But a gathering of Hillary diehards hailing his former opponent and reopening old wounds isn’t exactly “on message” for the Obama campaign.

Indeed, with the race apparently tightening, strolls down memory lane by Clinton supporters are the last thing Obama needs. Especially in view of a recent poll by Kellyanne Conway and Celinda Lake, experts on the female vote, which found that nearly one in five Clinton voters – 18 percent – say they’ll vote for John McCain come November.

Clinton’s brother, Tony Rodham, was reportedly spied at a McCain gathering this week, listening to a McCain surrogate’s pitch for disenchanted Hillary backers. Also there was Clinton’s former Northeast Pennsylvania coordinator, who told the Scranton Times-Tribune she hadn’t decided who to vote for.

This problem is partly of the Obama camp’s own making. It has yet to do any serious outreach to Clinton supporters – and it missed chances throughout the primaries to treat them respectfully or honor the historic nature of Clinton’s candidacy.

WomenCount’s leaders say they aren’t trying to make trouble, but to funnel all the Clinton passion responsibly. Says one founder, Democratic activist Jehmu Greene: “This passion won’t go away. Obama and McCain will have to answer to the women of America.”

Other groups don’t have such high-minded plans for the convention. “Real Democrats USA” plans to distribute opposition research on Obama that it says is being ignored by the mainstream media.

Then there’s “Just Say No Deal” – whose motto is “A coalition of millions with one thing in common – NOBama.”

The group has rented a multimedia loft for “Democratic bloggers who chose not to fall in line” and support Obama, and is covering travel costs as needed. Sunday night, it will host an event to air a documentary, “The Audacity of Democracy,” which chronicles supposed fraud perpetrated by the Democratic National Committee during the primaries. One organizer says its members will only vote Democrat if Hillary Clinton is at the top of the ticket.

Meanwhile, “The Denver Group” – which blames Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean for running a corrupt process that secured the nomination for Obama – has acquired two time slots to air TV ads reminding delegates and superdelegates of their rights and responsibilities and to “make clear what the consequences may very well be for the Democratic Party if they do not.”

The pro-Clinton group “18 Million Voices” will put the spotlight on Clinton when its members march in Denver to celebrate her candidacy.

And “Democrats for Clinton” still maintain on its Web site: “We believe this race should go on and Clinton should be able to have an opportunity to make her case at the convention.” They send out a daily “Electability Watch” chronicling any weakness in Obama’s campaign, and urging supporters to pressure delegates to cast their votes for Clinton.

Earlier this week, Maria Shriver gave some Clinton supporters a pep talk – comparing their broken hearts to how she felt when her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, lost a Democratic primary campaign to incumbent President Jimmy Carter. “I held grudges from the 1980 campaign for way too long,” she said. “It didn’t serve me well or advance healing.”

Very true. Unfortunately, Democratic history has a way of repeating itself.