They are now expected to split, with diehards still voting for her nomination at the Denver convention even though they are free to back Sen. Barack Obama and finally unite the party.

The vote will therefore be a barometer both of how sore delegates remain over her primary loss and of their reaction to Obama’s (D-Ill.) decision to pick Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) as his running mate rather than Clinton.

Clinton’s and Obama’s camps worked details of the vote Monday, but if it goes through, some expect a significant defection from Obama.

“It’s sore for me,” said New York delegate Vivian Cook, a state assemblywoman, who said she is a Clinton supporter “till the end” and will vote accordingly.

“I just think that women should have a right to be president of the United States,” added Cook, who expressed disappointment that Clinton wasn’t able to get Florida’s and Michigan’s votes to count fully.

Phillip Reid, a Clinton delegate from Michigan, said forcing her delegates to vote for her would have created an awkward situation for some of them.

He said they should vote for Obama en masse and suggested that racial issues might be a factor for those unwilling to back the nominee.

“Nobody I worked with in Oakland County [Mich.] is acting out like this,” Reid said, adding of those who stick with Clinton: “The less I see of them, the better.”

Clinton has pushed her supporters to back Obama, but has stopped short of telling them explicitly how to vote.

In a speech to New York delegates Monday, she acknowledged that wounds inflicted during the primaries were slow to heal but said the party was united.

“It may take a while — we’re not the fall-in-line party,” Clinton said, “but make no mistake, we are united.”

Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.) said he has been working to get Clinton delegates in his district onto Obama’s side and had not yet spoken to even one who would vote against Obama.

“Different people have different degrees of investment and disappointment,” Hall said. “Once our internal battle is done, the most important thing is that we’re behind Obama and Biden.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) echoed that message Monday, but was frustrated with reporters’ questions about Clinton supporters defecting to Republican candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

“Did I walk into a time capsule?” Pelosi told reporters peppering her with questions. “This is the yesterday room.”

She said female voters should recognize they have the most to gain from an Obama victory in terms of pay equity and abortion rights.

Many Clinton supporters said Monday that it was too early to say how many would stick with her.

Superdelegates were even more conflicted, particularly members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

They are torn between loyalty to Clinton and casting votes for their party’s first black nominee.

“It would have pained me to vote against Hillary,” said Del. Donna Christensen (D-Virgin Islands), a Clinton supporter in the CBC who only endorsed Obama after Clinton conceded the race in June.

At one point in the primary, half of the caucus’s members supported Clinton, while the other half supported Obama.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), an early Clinton supporter in the CBC, said he’s seen her work to put the primary fight behind her supporters.

“I have been in private meetings with her where her supporters spoke ill of the Obama campaign and she shushed them. She stopped them,” Cleaver said.

Other Clinton supporters said Clinton’s plan to release her delegates was an effective signal to her followers to move on.

“It is important in that it lets the 18 million who voted for her know to get behind Sen. Obama,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a CBC member who supported his home-state senator’s presidential bid.

CBC backers of Clinton insist they are not upset Obama did not select her as his running mate.

Christensen said the contentious primary made a joint ticket impossible: “It really poisoned the environment for Hillary as vice president.”

Cleaver said Clinton’s skills would be much more effective in the Senate.

“I hoped she would not accept if asked,” Cleaver said. “She is too strong a person to go to the birthday of the Irish ambassador.”

But other Clinton supporters expressed more disappointment, while at the same time saying they were content with Biden.

New York alternate delegate Sally Minard and Clinton finance committee member Kathy Sloane said Obama could have locked up the presidency by selecting Clinton.

“With her on the ticket, it’s absolutely a guaranteed win,” Minard said. “Without her, our job is much tougher.”

They’re not thrilled about Clinton releasing her delegates, but they said they would comply.

“It wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but it would have been exciting, and it would have been fun,” Minard said.

“It’s a graceful way to do it,” Sloane said. “It isn’t as exciting for many of us who support her, but it’s the graceful way to demonstrate her depth of support for the candidate.”

Cleaver and other CBC lawmakers said a unified convention would be crucial for Obama to win in November.

“Whether or not [Obama] becomes president, it depends on Denver … whether or not we can leave Friday with the troops rallied behind us,” Cleaver said.

Mike Soraghan contributed to this article.