Denver Prepares For The Main Event

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Article taken from Irish Times be Reuters

Democrats prepared a grand celebration today for Barack Obama, who will accept a historic presidential nomination with a speech that spells out his vision for change in America.

Mr Obama, the first black presidential nominee of a major US party, will deliver the address in Denver's open-air football stadium before 75,000 supporters on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech - a landmark in the US civil rights movement.

The televised speech by Mr Obama, who was formally nominated yesterday, will give the first-term Illinois senator his biggest national audience until he meets Republican rival John McCain in late September in the first of three face-to-face debates before the November 4th election.

In an unannounced appearance in the hall at the end of yesterday's national convention program, Mr Obama said he shifted the event to the football stadium as a tribute to the grass-roots energy of his supporters.

"We want to open up the convention to make sure that everybody who wants to come can join in the party," said Mr Obama (47) who appeared on stage after the acceptance speech of his newly minted running mate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden.

National conventions are often the first time voters start to pay attention to a presidential race. Opinion polls show many voters are still unfamiliar with Mr Obama and concerned about his readiness for the job.

Republicans, who hold their own convention in St Paul, Minnesota next week to nominate the veteran 71-year-old Mr McCain, hammered on their theme that Mr Obama is unprepared and his soaring speeches mask a lack of substance.

"The question for Obama is 'What have you done and what have you run?'," Minnesota Govenor Tim Pawlenty, named as a possible running mate for Mr McCain, said on ABC's Good Morning America . "He has good oratory but when you shut off the teleprompter there's not much there," he said.

Speakers at the Democratic convention have addressed those concerns, led by rousing testimonials for Mr Obama from former rival Hillary Clinton, her husband former President Bill Clinton and Mr Biden.

"Barack Obama is ready to lead America and to restore American leadership in the world," Bill Clinton told flag-waving Democrats.

Mr Obama is running even with McCain in opinion polls. The back to back-to-back nominating conventions will give voters a chance to compare and contrast.

Mr Obama's senior strategist, David Axelrod, told reporters the speech would focus on Mr Obama's vision for the country's future.

"He's going to lay out a case for change. He's going to set the stakes of this election, the risks of continuing down the road we're on which is plainly what Senator McCain is offering," Mr Axelrod said.

Democrats tie Mr McCain's name to that of the unpopular President George W. Bush, whose eight years in power are associated with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and an economic malaise.

Some Democrats have said Mr Obama needs to be more specific about his priorities as president, and draw a sharp contrast with Mr McCain. Mr Axelrod said both elements would be included.

Republicans, seeking to draw attention away from the Democrats on their big day, tried to build up anticipation over Mr McCain's vice-presidential pick. A party official had said yesterday Mr McCain had made his choice, but the senator denied in an interview with KDKA NewsRadio in Pittsburgh today he had yet made a decision.

He did say, however, that two men considered potential running mates would join him at a rally in Ohio on Friday, his 72nd birthday, when the announcement is expected. They were former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

If elected Mr McCain would be the oldest first-term president to take office.

Mr Obama was formally nominated on Wednesday in an emotional show of unity after Hillary Clinton, his vanquished rival, appeared on the convention floor to ask Democrats to suspend their roll call of the states and make Mr Obama the nominee by acclamation.

Former Vice President Al Gore will speak to the convention before Obama today. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Hispanic, will also make an appearance. Hispanics are a fast growing segment of the U.S. electorate and a potentially vital voting bloc.

The last presidential candidate to accept the nomination in an open-air football stadium was John Kennedy, who spoke to the Democratic convention at the Los Angeles Coliseum before 80,000 supporters in 1960.