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(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
Tonight was supposed to be Joe Biden's night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, but a certain former president and the man who hopes to be the next president stole the show.
The crowd's response was electric tonight. The arena roared when Bill Clinton took the stage and when Obama popped in. Tonight's speeches capped off an exciting day in which the official nomination was made of the man Democrats want in the White House.
Sen. Hillary Clinton said, "I move Senator Barack Obama of Illinois be selected by this convention by acclamation as the nominee of the Democratic party for President of the United States." With that, voting ended and history was made.
Senator Barack Obama became the first African American to ever win the presidential nomination by a major political party. All that remained was making sure all of Clinton's supporters followed her lead. And that's exactly what former President Bill Clinton set out to do in his speech tonight.
The icon in the Democratic party walked on stage to a deafening standing ovation that lasted several minutes. He told the crowd, "I am here first to support Barack Obama; and second, I'm here to warm up the crowd for Joe Biden. Like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama. Everything I learned in my eight years as President and in the work I've done since, in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job. In his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park. Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States."
It's been fewer than five days since Obama named his choice for vice president. Tonight that man, Joe Biden, also took the stage. "I accept this party's nomination for the Vice President of the United States. Like many of us in this room, like many of us in this hall, he worked his way up. Barack Obama is the American story," he said.
E-mail: nwimmer@ksl.com
