Grand celebration for Obama
2008-08-28 16:45
Denver - Democrats prepared a grand
celebration on Thursday for Barack Obama, who will accept a
historic presidential nomination with a speech that spells out
his vision for change in America.
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 Obama, who was formally nominated
on Wednesday, 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 4 election.
In an unannounced appearance in the hall at the end of
Wednesday's national convention programme, 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 Obama,
47, who appeared on stage after the acceptance speech of his
newly minted running mate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden.
Voters still unfamiliar with Obama
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 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 McCain,
hammered on their theme that Obama is unprepared and his
soaring speeches mask a lack of substance.
Speakers at the Democratic convention have tried to address
those concerns, led by rousing testimonials for Obama from
former rival Hillary Clinton, her husband former President Bill
Clinton and Biden.
"Barack Obama is ready to lead America and to restore
American leadership in the world," Bill Clinton told
flag-waving Democrats.
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.
Obama's senior strategist, David Axelrod, told reporters
the speech would focus on Obama's vision for the country's
future.
Case for change
"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," Axelrod said.
Democrats tie 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 a growing
economic malaise.
Some Democrats have said Obama needs to be more specific
about his priorities as president, and draw a sharp contrast
with McCain. Axelrod said both elements would be included.
"His goal is to talk to the American people directly about
the challenges that we face and what it's going to take to
solve them," he said.
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.