In many ways, the Democratic National Convention has been very typical.

Thousands of signs, buttons and strange getups, trite speeches and concert-worthy special effects -- all are a hallmark of the Democrats' party to celebrate itself.

However, this event has also featured certain anomolies that haven't been seen as much in past conventions. So far the name "Hillary Clinton" seems to have been mentioned nearly as much as "Barack Obama."

During her speech last night, which followed a heartfelt tribute video, cameras shamelessly focused on the teary eyes of the convention's many female attendees.

It's these voters that have the Democratic Party worried, and rightly so. Despite the party's every effort at pushing the theme of unity, the fact remains that some of Clinton's most loyal fans are eyeing Obama with as much skepticim as they do John McCain.

While Obama has yet to have his say, the Democrats are in dangerous territory as they struggle to emphasize party unity. Just like the analysts constantly talking about the convention, the Democrats are inadvertantly making "party unity" more of an issue than it really is.

A truly unified party wouldn't have to be reminded to stand together -- just ask the Republicans.

Of course, it's easy to bash the die-hard Clinton supporters and insist they more closely toe the party line. But if they're so tempted to vote for McCain in their frustration, perhaps their attitudes hint at a greater problem with the election itself.

So much has been said about the "historic" nature of this election, which is a nice way of making race and gender a greater issue than the candidates themselves. If voters are so stuck on supporting a woman or an black man, either they or the Democratic Party has failed. Both have to step up their civic responsibility -- the Democrats to make the real issues more prominent and the voters to stay truly informed.

Scenes from Clinton's speech at the convention so far show this election is still in danger of being a popularity contest. Instead of trying to patch up the so-called divides within the party, Democrats must look outward and define how they're different than the Republicans.

Regardless of whether Obama brings the four-day affair to a rousing close, Democrats still have a lot of work to do to win in a cutthroat election season. And voters still have months to stop being sore losers and cast a ballot they can be truly be proud of.