Obama, Democrats make some history

DENVER – Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois completed an improbable and historic journey here Wednesday when he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for president.

He becomes the first African-American to lead a major political party into a general-election campaign.

Obama, who just eight years ago attended his first Democratic National Convention and who four years later shot to national prominence with an electrifying keynote address at the gathering in Boston, was given a final symbolic boost Wednesday by Sen. Hillary Clinton, who moved from the convention floor to suspend the roll call of the states and formalize her former rival’s nomination by acclamation.

The gesture of conciliation brought to a conclusion the closest and hardest-fought nomination battle Democrats have waged in the modern era of presidential politics, pitting two historic candidacies in a contest that divided the party and left bitter feelings lingering among Clinton loyalists.

But after days of nervous speculation about how the long and often contentious competition would end here in Denver, the nomination-by-acclamation set off a joyous scene on the convention floor, as delegates danced to the strains of “Love Train” and then broke out in chants of “Yes, we can! Yes, we can!”

Hours later, the convention confirmed Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., as the party’s vice presidential nominee, and as he finished his acceptance speech, Obama made a surprise visit to the Pepsi Center to praise his new partner; his wife, Michelle; his erstwhile rival Clinton; and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who had delivered a powerful speech on behalf of Obama earlier in the night.

“I think the convention’s gone pretty well so far, don’t you think?” Obama said. He cited his wife’s speech Monday, and then, referring to Hillary Clinton’s speech Tuesday, said, “If I’m not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night.”

In his acceptance speech, Biden, the fiery chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cast himself as a champion of working-class families – a key target group Obama has struggled to win over – and laid out a sustained critique of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee.

“I am here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington,” he said. “I am here for the cops and firefighters, the teachers and assembly-line workers – the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures.”

Time and again, he charged, Obama’s judgment on foreign policy issues has been superior to McCain’s. On domestic issues, he said, McCain would continue the policies of President Bush, rather than embrace changes he said the country desperately needs.

“Again and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was proven right,” Biden argued. “Folks, remember when the world used to trust us? When they looked to us for leadership? With Barack Obama as our president, they’ll look to us again, they’ll trust us again, and we’ll be able to lead again.”

In their response to the night’s proceedings, McCain’s campaign sought to turn Biden’s words against Obama.

“Joe Biden is right: We need more than a good soldier. We need a leader with the experience and judgment to serve as commander in chief from day one,” spokesman Ben Porritt said. “That leader is John McCain.”

Biden was preceded on the podium by Bill Clinton, whose conduct during the nominating contest prompted considerable criticism from Democrats backing Obama and who has complained in private that he was unfairly attacked.

But the former president, like his wife on Tuesday, delivered a rousing speech that made a strong argument that the election of Obama is critical to the country’s future.

Clinton drew a thunderous and sustained welcome from delegates, who cheered and waved American flags and chanted “Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill,” as he sought to quiet them. “I am here first to support Barack Obama,” he said, setting off another round of applause.

Clinton acknowledged that, “in the end, my candidate didn’t win” the nomination. But then, citing his wife’s speech on Tuesday, he said: “Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us.” That set off a fresh round applause that grew louder when he added: “Actually, that makes 18 million of us, because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.”

Challenging Republican criticism of the new nominee, he said: “Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world. Barack Obama is ready to honor the oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.”

Recalling that Republicans had accused him of not being ready when he ran in 1992, Clinton noted that the criticism had not worked then and “won’t work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.”

Obama, who began Wednesday in Montana, touched down in Denver just as nominating speeches were getting under way and immediately headed to his hotel downtown to continue working on the acceptance speech he will deliver tonight. He was with his wife; daughters, Sasha and Malia; and other members of his extended family when he was declared the party’s nominee.