DENVER - Beating drums and chanting, hundreds of bitter-end supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton marched through downtown Tuesday, celebrating her historic candidacy and demanding a full roll-call vote at the Democratic National Convention to honor her.

"Rise, Hillary, Rise!" they chanted, as helicopters clattered overhead.

"Hillary's race was "herstoric," said Gloria Allred, a Los Angeles Clinton delegate marching at the head of the line. "We want the 18 million Hillary voters to be recognized and honored, and an open roll call is the best way."

The parade came on the 88th anniversary of the adoption of the constitutional amendment that gave women the right to vote, and it reflected tensions among Democrats on the eve of Wednesday night's roll call, during which Clinton's name is to be placed in nomination alongside that of Sen. Barack Obama.

Benton County delegates, reached moments after Clinton concluded her prime-time speech, were clearly moved. Seven of the eight of them are Clinton supporters, and Oregon Rep. Sara Gelser said Hillary's speech justified their loyalty.

"She just gave the speech of a lifetime … she raised the roof," Gelser said Tuesday night, struggling to be heard above the convention crowd. She and the other members of the 65-member Oregon delegation tried to make their way through what Gelser described as a sea of people and "Belfast-like" security.

Gelser, from Oregon's House District 16 representative, is one of eight members of the Benton County

Democratic Central Committee who have traveled to Denver for the convention. The others are Sam Sappington, the local chairman of the committee and only Obama supporter in the primary; Benton County Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo, Linn County Democratic Chairman Lloyd Henion, who lives in Benton County, Harry Demarest, his daughter Joan Demarest and her husband, Jon Pugsley, and Harry's wife, Merry Demarest, who serves on the rules committee at the convention.

Although the speech did not formally release Clinton's pledged delegates to support presumptive nominee Barack Obama, Gelser said, she had no doubt that most Hillary supporters eventually would unite behind Obama.

"New buttons came out today," she said. "They say 'Hillary supports Obama, and so do I.' We couldn't trade them fast enough."

But that sentiment is not universal.

With the outcome of the convention pre-determined and the prime-time rhetoric polished to a high gloss, the only drama left is whether Clinton's supporters can get over her loss. Will her delegates erupt, marring the picture of unity the party wants to project?

The answer could influence Democratic chances of victory Nov. 4. Recent polls suggest a chunk of Clinton primary voters might support Republican John McCain, pick a third-party candidate or stay home.

Clinton has formally released her 1,896 pledged delegates, and a tentative accord with the Obama campaign would allow some states to cast votes for Clinton. As of early Tuesday night, Clinton had so far refused to publicly tell her delegates what she wanted them to do, leading to some confusion.

All of the maneuvering over procedure and stagecraft might seem petty, but many Clinton backers view it as a test of Obama's respect for his defeated rival.

To her most ardent fans on the streets and in the delegation hotels here, Clinton's campaign is a powerful symbol of feminist progress. Noting that she thumped Obama among white working-class voters in several late primaries, they argue that she would be a stronger candidate.

And, for some, there is a powerful sense that Obama showed Clinton disrespect by not vetting her formally to be his running mate.

The pro-Clinton street demonstration, organized by 18 Million Voices, snaked through the city toward the Pepsi Center, with participants arguing among themselves whether it was a good idea to vote for McCain in protest.

Many women in the crowd wore white cotton dresses and purple sashes, the uniform of the original suffragettes.

One woman wore lederhosen and a floppy rubber Clinton mask under a Viking hat.

Karen Darling, a Clinton delegate from Santa Cruz, Calif., said she would be disappointed if the roll call is cut short before she can vote her preference.

"She gave real hope to women - for the first time in my lifetime, half the population was represented," Darling, 68, said.

Her friend, California delegate Pat Bakalian, said that not letting Hillary supporters like her have the catharsis of a full roll call could harm party unity. "I would never vote for a Republican but I could stay home," she said. "I'm waiting to see what happens here."

Suzette Young, though not a delegate, came from Seattle to protest the convention and said she would write in Clinton's name Nov. 4. As for Obama, Young said, "I don't trust him. He's too young."

The Gazette-Times contributed to this article