Arkansas delegates expect a frenzied crowd to welcome former President Bill Clinton tonight when he speaks at the Democratic National Convention.

Clinton, governor of Arkansas for more than a decade, will take the stage at 8 p.m. Central. Like his wife on Tuesday, Clinton is likely to endorse Barack Obama and call for Hillary Clinton supporters to rally around the presumptive Democratic nominee for the general election.

Delegates last night got a preview of what to expect when the former president enters the Pepsi Center tonight.

Fayetteville’s David Whitaker said almost every convention-goer turned to watch Bill Clinton when he arrived last night for his wife’s speech.

“I felt sorry for the speaker at the rostrum because when President Clinton entered, I swear, the poor speaker lost our attention for five minutes as people looked and craned their necks and waved,” Whitaker said.

“I fully expect when the president enters the room that place is going to come apart,” he added.

Remarks made by the former president in the past have added to speculation that he is not completely behind Obama’s presidential bid.

Arkansans said such speculation is nonsense generated by the opposition party.

“The talk about tension is Republican garbage,” said Don Bishop of Harrison. “That is not going on and it is not relevant at this convention. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton support Barack Obama, period.”

Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Conventions, Democrat Convention 2008, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.