Editor’s note: Robert Rupp, a political historian at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, W.Va., is providing a daily journal of analysis and happenings from the Democratic National Convention. --- DENVER — Democrats got a repeat performance Wednesday when former President Bill Clinton erased public doubts about his enthusiasm for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton did that Tuesday in a dramatic call for unity that U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller said was a home run. During that speech, one watched in the convention hall as a sea of white Hillary signs being waved turned into a sea of blue unity banners. The banners waved by the delegates had unity printed on one side and Obama or Hillary on the other side. Putting the names together might suggest the party ticket desired by a large number of delegates. As the delegates left the convention, many carried those banners — a sign of unity for many, and perhaps remembrance for some. Hillary’s enthusiasm reminds one of the times when conventions were actually used to select presidential candidates rather than just ratify them. In at least a third of the conventions from 1832-1952 (the last time there was more than one ballot), the party nominee had to struggle through several ballots. In the 19th century there was no opportunity for a losing candidate to address the convention. Such acts of reconciliation appeared later in staged visits.