At a party on the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, conventioneers kept recognizing Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr.
They know McDermott as the man who argued with the mayor of Gary on CNN on primary night while sleepy Democrats wondered if Lake County would ever finish counting votes.
"It's sort of funny. It's my little claim to fame," McDermott said.
McDermott, who supported U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Mayor Rudy Clay, a backer of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, said they are friends and collaborators in the same Democratic cause. That sentiment matches the upper-case, underlined talking point Democrats want to transmit from Denver: After a bruising primary fight, the party has united.
Lake County's Democrats -- months after an uncomfortable moment in the late-night spotlight of impatient TV news pundits -- are united behind Obama and U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, Clay said. Clay employed an Olympic metaphor to voice his expectation that Lake County will win Indiana for Obama and Biden.
"And when that happens, Indiana will win the gold medal, and that means winning the presidential election here because of the fact that Lake County voted in large, large numbers," Clay said.
Clay said local officials are working to ensure the ballots of those large numbers are more efficiently counted Nov. 4.
Other local Democrats suspect the primary fight is reverberating at the convention. Indiana state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, said the Indiana delegation's hotel is as far from the convention site as Gary is from Crown Point. Brown thinks party leaders are punishing Indiana for Clinton's primary victory.
Still, Brown said media outlets are overblowing any residual party rift. He said many Democrats who claim they won't vote for Obama aren't just showing allegiance to Clinton. He said they are using Clinton as an excuse to not vote for a black man. No real Democrat will withhold an Obama vote, Brown said.
"If they are true Democrats, there's no way they're going to vote for McCain," Brown said.
McDermott said Democrats would be "naive" to think some die-hards aren't still bitter about Clinton's defeat. He has seen conventioneers in Clinton's promotional gear.
But most Democrats stand behind the ticket, McDermott said. McDermott said he is done fighting the primary.
"With me, it's over."
