It's official: Democrats nominate Obama
DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Democrats Wednesday officially nominated Barack Obama to be their candidate for president.
Sen. Hillary Clinton asked to cut the roll call short saying, "With eyes firmly fixed on the future, and in the spirit of unity with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let's declare together with one voice right here, right now that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president," she said.
Delegates then affirmed Obama as their choice with cheers.
Clinton and Obama were on the ballot at the party convention on Wednesday.
The states announced their votes in alphabetical order. The voting was to continue until a candidate received 2,210 delegates -- the threshold needed to secure the nomination.
While most delegates cast their votes for Obama, some were voting for Clinton.
There were a few boos at one point -- when Massachusetts cast its vote and gave a nod to its sports teams, the Red Sox and the Celtics, the current baseball and basketball champions.
As Obama arrived in Denver, Clinton released her delegates Wednesday afternoon, allowing those who had been pledged to her to vote for whomever they choose in a roll call vote later in the day.
"This was such a competitive primary season," Clinton told her delegates in a packed ballroom at the Denver Convention Center, "I want you to know this has been a joy. Boy did we have a good time trying."
Clinton engaged in a bitter primary battle with Barack Obama until the last contest in June before conceding. On Tuesday night, she delivered the headline address to the party's convention in Denver, which was intended to heal any rift that the contentious campaign had caused.
"I believe that as Democrats and as Americans we will leave Denver united," she said on Wednesday.
Clinton told the delegation that she had waited to address them in one place so she could address them all before releasing them.
"It is traditional that we have nominations, that we have a roll call, that we have candidates who look for ways to make sure we come out of here ready to win in November," she said. "As part of that tradition, I am here today to release you as my delegates."
Controversy has surrounded the role of Clinton's nearly 1,700 pledged delegates. Last month, she said allowing them to cast a vote for her in a roll call at the convention could provide a "catharsis."
Clinton said Wednesday she signed her ballot for Obama.
As Clinton addressed her delegates, she also took the opportunity to take a swipe at the opposition party, telling her supporters that Republicans "should apologize to the country."
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