MADELEINE BRAND, host:
From the studios of NPR West, this is Day to Day. I'm Madeleine Brand.
ALEX CHADWICK, host:
I'm Alex Chadwick. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has had her say. And her backers, are they listening about Barack Obama? We've asked two of her strong supporters.
BRAND: Mark Friedland is a delegate from North Carolina. He's an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter. He's on the line now. And, Mr. Friedland, you were on the floor last night. You saw her speak. You heard her words, and did she convince you to vote for Barack Obama?
Mr. MARK FRIEDLAND (Democratic Delegate, North Carolina): Absolutely not. It's impossible for her to convince me to vote for Barack Obama.
BRAND: How is that?
Mr. FRIEDLAND: Because this is a democratic process, and I am a delegate that was elected in my district by people who were attending the district convention. Those people were pledged to Hillary Clinton. My mandate is to carry those votes to the convention and deliver them in the roll call vote.
BRAND: OK. So in the roll call vote, you'll vote for Hillary Clinton. What about in the fall and the general election?
Mr. FRIEDLAND: It would be unconscionable of me to vote or support anyone from any party other than the Democratic Party. Regardless of my reservations about Barack Obama, it would just be unthinkable to allow the Republicans to have four more years running the government.
BRAND: Now, I understand your wife is also a Hillary Clinton supporter.
Mr. FRIEDLAND: Yes.
BRAND: And she has a different opinion.
Mr. FRIEDLAND: Well, she feels that the Democratic Party mistreated Hillary Clinton during the primary and their slogan is, we don't reward bad behavior. So they said that it would be unconscionable for them to vote for Barack Obama. I don't agree with that. I think that their - the case is shooting yourself in the foot - but strong-minded women will do what they will do, and we will have to support them.
BRAND: Did you...
Mr. FRIEDLAND: That's democracy.
BRAND: Yes. At least democracy in the household there. Did...
Mr. FRIEDLAND: Well, no. But, you know, it's a really big issue. Barack Obama wants the convention to be unified, you know, and make everything look clean. But democracy is not pretty. You know, democracy involves all this back and forth discussion. And, in the end, we come to a decision, and then we support the decision.
BRAND: And do you think that your wife will eventually arrive at that decision to vote Democratic in the fall?
Mr. FRIEDLAND: I sure hope so. But it won't be because of me.
BRAND: What will it be because of?
Mr. FRIEDLAND: The responsibility for bringing these disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters back to the Democratic Party lies squarely on the shoulders of Barack Obama and nobody else. And, quite frankly, I feel that, if he doesn't achieve it, I think it's going to be very questionable whether he can win the election in November.
BRAND: So what do you and what does your wife want to hear from Barack Obama when he takes the podium on Thursday?
Mr. FRIEDLAND: It's the same thing that anybody wants to hear from their political leaders, that they hear them, that they recognize them, that they respect their views. Now, one of the things about Hillary Clinton's campaign is that everything that she talked about was about how to take care of your family. It was a really strong message that resonated with, as I've observed, middle aged women.
And when I talk to the supporters of Barack Obama about this, they'll say, well, go to his website. It's there. I said, we don't want to read the website. We want to hear it from his mouth.
BRAND: So I'm wondering what kinds of conversations the two of you are going to have in the next few days and in the next few months.
Mr. FRIEDLAND: Well, we respect each other's opinions, and I've learned with my wife, when there's a disagreement, I tend to avoid the issue.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. FRIEDLAND: And, you know, there's a lot of other people that I can convince to support the Democratic Party, even if my wife isn't going to.
(Soundbite of laughter)
BRAND: Mark Friedland, a delegate from North Carolina at the convention in Denver. Thank you.
Mr. FRIEDLAND: Thank you.
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