Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) campaign said Thursday that is has encouraged former rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) to place her name in the nomination at this month’s Democratic convention.

“I am convinced that honoring Sen. Clinton’s historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong, united fashion,” Obama said in a statement.

Placing both names in nomination will serve as “a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran and the fact that she was the first woman to compete in all of our nation’s primary contests,” the two Democratic campaigns said in a joint statement.

Party unity has been a big question mark for the Democrats following the contentious 54-primary battle waged between the two senators. The contest, for all intents and purposes, ended with an emotionally charged meeting of the Democratic Party’s rules and bylaws committee. The panel awarded Obama delegates from Michigan and Florida, evaporating Clinton’s last, best hope for a comeback victory.

Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, are both scheduled to speak at the convention, and reports are circulating that daughter Chelsea might also be heard from on the convention stage.

In the joint statement, both campaigns stressed that the reason for placing Clinton’s name in nomination is to demonstrate party unity.

“Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton are looking forward to a convention unified behind Barack Obama as the party’s nominee and to victory this fall for America,” the statement read.

Despite the calls for unity, one Democratic strategist who endorsed Obama early said the campaign is giving too much away and the Clintons have not shown enough good will to earn such treatment at the convention.

"I have never seen a worse negotiation in my lifetime," the strategist said.