PROVIDENCE — At the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the Rhode Island delegation bunked with the Texas delegation in a seen-better-days hotel. The Texans were surprised that all of the Rhode Island delegates were on a first-name basis; the Rhode Islanders’ retort was hey, most of us are related.

A dozen years later, the delegates in Denver for the 2008 Democratic confab will have a familiar, all-in-the-family ring. Eight of the 33 Rhode Island delegates hail from familiar local Democratic families — the Lynches of Pawtucket, the Paolinos of Providence and the Weiners of East Greenwich.

William Lynch is the Democratic state chairman. His brother is Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch. Another brother, John Lynch, is also a delegate. Mark Weiner Sr., and his wife, Susan Weiner, who are top party fundraisers and confidantes of Hillary and Bill Clinton, are both delegates, as is their son Mark Weiner Jr.

And Joseph Paolino Jr., the former Providence mayor and Clinton supporter, and his daughter Jennifer Paolino, will be seated among the state delegation in Denver.

Rhode Island party leaders have been pushing another family theme — that the state’s Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters coalesce behind the Obama candidacy as he heads into the fall campaign against Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

“The message that has to be broadcast loud and clear is unity, that Barack Obama is the only candidate who can move the nation forward,” said House Speaker William Murphy, D-West Warwick, at a delegation caucus last week in the lobby of the Citizens Bank tower in Providence.

“We are spending billions of dollars every month on the war in Iraq, we are building roads and schools and firehouses over there” said Murphy, originally a Clinton backer. “We need a president who is focused on building schools and fixing roads and bridges in Rhode Island.”

Rhode Island Democratic delegates who supported the New York senator have swung behind Obama, they said. Frank Montanaro, a staunch Clinton supporter and president of the state AFL-CIO, says organized labor will work diligently to elect the Illinois senator.

Montanaro returned last week from a national convention of the International Association of Fire Fighters in Las Vegas. “The message I got was that the labor community is behind Barack Obama. I love Hillary Clinton and I think she would make a terrific president, but this election is far too important to think about the past.”

Edna O’Neill Mattson, of North Kingstown, was a loyal Clinton supporter. At 72, she is attending her eighth national convention. “We need to do everything we can for Barack Obama. We need a president who is for education, not bombs.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse also backed Clinton in the primary. He says the idea of allowing her supporters to hold a symbolic roll-call vote for her candidacy is a good one, which should curb any dissension left over from the long primary and caucus season.

“This will give Hillary supporters a chance to honor her historic candidacy and the 18 million voters who voted for her,” said Whitehouse.

Modern political conventions are rarely notable for the decisions they make. Voters in presidential primaries now choose party nominees. The last convention that produced any suspense was in 1976, when Republican delegates narrowly chose incumbent Gerald Ford over Ronald Reagan.

This week in Denver, the Democrats hope to show the world a united and energized party whose diverse elements are capable of speaking to the hearts and minds of voters and pulling together for what promises to be a tough general election campaign.

“I think this is going to be a really contentious election season,” said Walter Stone, a Providence lawyer and delegate. “It is going to take the dedication, sense of purpose and the energy of Michael Phelps to win this thing.”

The delegation is not, of course, all old-timers and household names. Kimberly Ahern, 24, a Roger Williams University law student, is a newcomer to political campaigns. She worked for Howard Dean’s unsuccessful 2004 presidential run and started on Obama’s campaign last year.

“We need to come out of the convention not only unified, but energized,” said Ahern. “We need to be organized and work really hard on Barack’s campaign.”

Ahern says it would be wise to use the convention to line up volunteers to travel to swing states to canvass for Obama. The closest competitive state in New England is New Hampshire, which went for George W. Bush in 2000 but switched to Democrat John Kerry in 2004.

“We need people not only to work in Rhode Island, but to be willing to go to New Hampshire and really get involved,” said Ahern.

Rhode Island Democrats are setting a goal of winning Rhode Island by the largest margin of any state in the country. If the past is prologue, it is achievable — Rhode Island is usually among the top two or three states in its percentage of the Democratic presidential vote.

Rhode Island has not supported a GOP presidential candidate since the Reagan reelection landslide of 1984. The state has been a part of the Democratic base in every modern presidential election won by a Democrat and famously, in 1960, gave John F. Kennedy a higher percentage of its vote than did Kennedy’s home state of Massachusetts.

Delegates gathered at the caucus last Wednesday evening cheered when William Lynch announced that Murphy and House Majority Leader Gordon Fox, D-Providence, have each pledged $11,000 to the state Democratic Party for a voter-turnout effort.

Even though polling shows Obama way ahead in Rhode Island, Rep. Raymond Sullivan, D-Coventry, who is Obama’s campaign director in the state, says he isn’t taking anything for granted. “We’re going to be going all out.”

Whether a first-time delegate or a veteran of many conventions, the delegates will discover that Denver will be different, says William Lynch.

One Rhode Island Democratic tradition delegates may find more difficult this time is skirting the rules by sneaking friends and relatives into the floor seats that are supposed to be reserved for delegates.

At the Boston convention in 2004, Whitehouse recalls sitting in the state delegate section, even though he wasn’t a delegate.

“Rhode Island was one of the smallest delegations, but it was also the most dense. It seemed like twice as many people were crammed into the delegate seats as there were delegates,” said Whitehouse.

Says O’Neill Mattson, “Everybody always asks how did Rhode Island get so many people on the floor? I’ll never tell.”

This time, security will be tighter, said Bill Lynch. “This isn’t going to be like Los Angeles in 2000 or Boston last time,” says Lynch. “In Denver we’re going to have to follow the rules.”

Delegates will be issued floor passes each day, rather than getting a “season-ticket” package at the beginning of the convention. And passes will be checked assiduously, Lynch said.

For delegate Mark Weiner Sr., the Denver convention will mix politics and business. As has been the case since 1988 in Atlanta, Weiner’s company, Financial Innovations, of Cranston, will be the official purveyor of convention souvenirs. Weiner’s company will sell everything from key chains to T-shirts emblazoned with the DNC logo.

Weiner’s association with the Clintons earned almost $3 million in contracts for such campaign items as lawn signs and bumper strips for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Weiner has been in ailing health and hasn’t devoted as much time to the convention business as in past presidential cycles, but says he is looking forward to Denver.

The Rhode Island delegates were given convention T-shirts and backpacks courtesy of lottery giant GTECH, a company whose incoming board chairman, Donald Sweitzer, is a former political director of the Democratic National Committee.

As is always the case at conventions, it won’t be all politics and speeches. There will be parties, socializing and even community service.

On Tuesday, Rhode Island delegates will participate in delivering Meals on Wheels to elderly people in the Denver area, says O’Neill Mattson.

Providence Mayor David Cicilline is one of the hosts of what promises to be a sumptuous repast Tuesday evening, sponsored by the National Conference of Democratic mayors and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

The dinner at the Denver Tea Room will feature food from the cities of Denver, Boston, Chicago, Louisville, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Providence and Seattle.

One restaurant from each city will be featured. It will come as no surprise that Italian food will be Providence’s contribution and that Joe Marzilli’s Old Canteen restaurant, a longtime Federal Hill favorite, has been chosen to cook the Providence contribution.

“Each city is contributing a signature cuisine,” said Cicilline. “It should be a really great time.”

DELEGATES:

Kimberly Ahern, of Bristol, Obama campaign activist and law student

Rep. David Caprio, D-Narragansett

Providence Mayor David Cicilline

Rep. Grace Diaz, D-Providence

Patricia Flanagan, of East Greenwich, Clinton campaign activist

Charles Fogarty, former lieutenant governor

Jill Harrington, of Cranston, Obama campaign activist

U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy

U.S. Rep. James Langevin

Richard Licht, former lieutenant governor

John Lynch, party activist

Attorney General Patrick Lynch

State Democratic Chairman William Lynch

Maureen Martin, of South Kingstown, party activist

Frank Montanaro, president of the state AFL-CIO and Democratic national committeeman

House Speaker William Murphy, D-West Warwick

Elizabeth Noonan, of Pawtucket, party activist and lawyer

James O’Neil, ex-attorney general

Edna O’Neill Mattson, Democratic national committeewoman

Jill Padwa, of Providence, Obama campaign activist

Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport

Jennifer Paolino of Providence, daughter of former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino and Clinton campaign activist

Joseph R. Paolino Jr., former Providence mayor

Elizabeth Perik, of East Greenwich, party activist

Sen. Rhoda Perry, D-Providence

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed

Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts

Marti Rosenberg, of Cranston, party activist

Mark S. Weiner Jr., of West Greenwich

Mark S. Weiner Sr., of East Greenwich

Susan Weiner, of East Greenwich, Clinton campaign activist and fundraiser

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

Former state senator Myrth York

ALTERNATES:

Senate President Joseph Montalbano, D-North Providence

Lauren Nocera, of Providence, party activist

Deb Ruggerio, Jamestown Democratic town chairwoman

Walter Stone, lawyer and party activist

smackay@projo.com