After making history as the first black presidential nominee of a major party, Senator Barack Obama took to the stage with his running mate Joseph R. Biden, Jr. after the veteran Delaware senator gave an impassioned acceptance address to run as his vice presidential pick.
Just months ago Senator Clinton was slamming Barack Obama as an out-of-touch elitist who did nothing else but make good speeches. Now Senator Obama is America’s best chance of saving itself. And the vibrant crowd at the Democratic National Convention, duly displaying mass short-term memory loss, hung on every word.
In a forthcoming book called “Changing the Game”, David Edery and Ethan Mollick argue that many skills and lessons from the computer gaming world are applicable in the business world. The smartest firms, the authors argue, will not only allow game-playing in the workplace, but will actively encourage it.
Tensions between Senator Clinton’s supporters and Senator Obama’s campaign are high, particularly in the wake of revelations that Mr. Obama did not vet Mrs. Clinton or ask her advice on his vice-presidential pick. Many major Clinton fund-raisers skipped the convention; others are leaving before Mr. Obama’s speech.
With delegates waving banners that read “Hillary” or “Obama” on one side and “Unity” on the other, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Democrats to put aside their loyalty to her and unite behind Senator Barack Obama — or risk continuing Bush administration policies under the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.
The US Attorney General for Denver, Troy Eid, said there was no credible or “true threat” against Senator Obama. However, Mr. Eid he could not explain the presence of firearms, including a sniper rifle, body armour and wigs in the suspect’s truck. He said the threats against the presumptive Democratic nominee were “more aspirational than operational”.
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, who grew up on a farm as one of 12 children, is part of a new vanguard of Democratic leaders west of the Rocky Mountains placing great store in the demographic changes that he thinks will help deliver Democrats the White House in November.
Democrats say they are fortunate that it is party members’ passion for their respective candidates that divides Clinton and Obama supporters, and not ideological differences over the party’s direction. Those differences are harder to bridge, as Democrats found in 1980, when divisions over Jimmy Carter cost them the White House.
The opposition party once more or less ceded the stage to the convening party during its convention, under the assumption that breaking into the news coverage would be next to impossible. Over the past few presidential election cycles, as Washington became more bitterly partisan, that view began to disintegrate.
The Democrats have begun laying the foundation for what Senator Obama hopes to accomplish over the next four days. Throughout the day, aides to Senator Clinton and Mr. Obama worked to ease tensions over the Clintons’ roles at the convention. Michelle Obama, in her speech, made a point of saluting Mrs. Clinton’s achievements.