Denver Post reporters Jennifer Brown and Kimberly Johnson blogged live from inside the Pepsi Center at the Democratic National Convention tonight.
9:17 p.m. CNN groupies are hanging out behind the CNN stage, hoping to get on TV. — KJ
9:10 p.m. That’s a wrap for tonight, as Tina Turner’s, “Simply the Best” is played as people begin to leave. — KJ
9:02 p.m. After Obama’s brief remarks, his family joined him on stage. Biden’s wife and family appeared as well. They danced, waved and hugged as “We Are Family” blared out of the Pepsi Center speakers. — JB
9:00 p.m. Obama said Democrats were moving the party to Invesco Field tomorrow night because he wanted more people to be able to attend. “At the start of this campaign we had a very simple idea: Change doesn’t start from the top down, it’s starts from the bottom up,” he said. — JB
8:58 p.m. “Hello, Democrats!” Obama shouted.
“I want everybody to now understand why I am so proud to have Joe Biden and Jill Biden and Beau Biden and Mama Biden and the whole Biden family,” he said.
Obama said he thought the convention was going well so far, complimented his wife’s speech Monday night. “If I’m not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night,” he said. — JB
8:55 p.m. Sen. Barack Obama made a surprise appearance at the Pepsi Center tonight just hours after delegates named him the Democratic presidential nominee.
Obama appeared on stage at the end of vice presidential nominee Joe Biden’s speech, as delegates were pumping “Biden” and “Obama” signs in the air and Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” played in the arena.
Biden’s wife, Jill, came on stage to hug her husband and tell him about a “very special surprise guest.”
“Who?” Biden joked, as the crowd roared and Obama walked on stage. — JB
8:50 p.m. Biden praised Obama for the way he connects with and inspires people. “I realized he has tapped into the oldest American belief of all: We don’t have to accept a situation we cannot bear.”
“We have the power to change it. That’s Barack Obama, and that’s what he will do for this country,” Biden said, rousing cries of “Yes We Can!” from the crowd.
Biden hammered Republican presidential hopeful John McCain for proposing tax breaks for corporate America and voting against raising the minimum wage 19 times.
“These times require more than a good soldier,” he said. “They require a wise leader.
The Delaware senator, 66, said Obama would bring down health care costs, put more police officers on the streets, put the “security” back in Social Security and “never give up until we achieve equal pay for women.” — JB
8:42 p.m. Biden said the American dream “feels as if it’s slowly slipping away.”
“I’ve never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up,” he said.
He drew big laughs when he accidentally – or maybe not accidentally – called Sen. John McCain “George.” McCain, he said, doesn’t understand the struggles of the middle class.
“Barack Obama gets it,” he said. “Like many of us, Barack worked his way up. His is a great American story.” — JB
8:36 p.m. Vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden accepted the nomination tonight on the stage of the Pepsi Center, pledging that if he is elected, Americans won’t hear the “eight most dreaded words” in the English language: “The vice president’s office is on the phone.”
Delegates waved red-and-white rectangular “Biden” signs, some with American flags poking out of the top, and the band struck up “Ain’t That America” as Biden walked on stage.
Biden was introduced by his son, Beau, who called him an “incredible father and a loving grandfather” and an “accomplished senator.”
But his father, he said, “almost wasn’t a senator at all.” After he was elected in 1972 and before he was sworn in, Joe Biden’s wife and daughter were killed in a car accident on the way home from buying a Christmas tree. Beau Biden, 3 years old at the time, and his brother spent weeks in the hospital, which is where Joe Biden took his oath of office.
“As a single parent, he decided to be there to put us to bed, to be there when we woke up from a bad dream, to make us breakfast, so he’d travel to and from Washington, four hours a day,” said Beau Biden, who is Delaware attorney general.
Joe Biden still makes the four-hour trek 36 years later, his son said. “So even though dad worked in Washington, he’s never been part of Washington,” Beau Biden said. “He always sounded like the kid from Scranton, Penn., that he is.”
Before Joe Biden’s speech, delegates formally nominated him as the vice presidential nominee by voice vote. In a video played before Biden’s appearance, Obama praised Biden’s depth of experience, particularly on foreign policy. — JB
8:18 p.m. Sen. Joseph Biden nominated to be the Democratic vice presidential candidate. — KJ
7:52 p.m. Tonight’s message is national security and foreign relations, Kerry is driving the point home, like an Olympic weightlifter dropping down dumbbells after a gold-medal winning lift.
And he also took a shot at those that “swiftboated” him in 2004 and are attempting to do the same to Obama.
“Four years ago I said, and I’ll say it again tonight, that the flag doesn’t belong to any ideology,” he said. “After all, patriotism is not love of power or some cheap trick to win votes; patriotism is love of country.”
Speaking to a crescendo, Kerry said that the “McCain-Bush Republicans” are insulting Obama with their personal attacks.
“How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself. How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn’t put America first.” — KJ
7:39 p.m. John Kerry is now at the podium. Kerry said that four years ago the Democrats came “so close” to victory,” and “we are even closer now.”
He’s hammering home on McCain’s record of voting with Pres. Bush 90 percent of the time.”
The audience is on its feet waving their “reclaiming America’s future signs as Kerry says, “President Obama and Vice President will shut down Guantanamo, respect the Constitution and make clear that the U.S. doesn’t torture.”
Kerry is on the attack.
“Before he debates Obama, John McCain should finish the debate for himself.”— KJ
7:27 p.m. After spending much of the day talking amongst themselves and mingling, the crowd was in rapture during Clinton’s speech. They listened quietly, frequently popping out of their chairs to cheer wildly and wave flags. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton watched from the third level of the Pepsi Center, above the delegates. Entrance to the arena was blocked just before Clinton’s speech for security.
The crowd booed when Clinton spoke of the GOP agenda. He ripped Republicans for an exploding national debt, tax cuts for the wealthy and a weakened economy.
“In spite of all the evidence, their candidate is promising more of the same,” Clinton said. “They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more.”
Clinton reminded delegates that Republicans said he was “too young and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief” when he ran for president.
“Sound familiar?” he asked. “It didn’t work in 1992 because we were on the right side of history. And it won’t work in 2008 because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.”— JB
7:18 p.m. Clinton offered high praise for Obama, saying he has a “remarkable ability to inspire people” and the “intelligence and curiosity every successful president needs.”
“The long, hard primary tested and strengthened him, and in his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park,” Clinton said. “Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world.”
Obama will fight to reduce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and to stop global warming, Clinton said. “He will choose diplomacy first and military force as a last resort,” he said.— JB
7:12 p.m. Clinton said he was grateful for the chance that he and his daughter had to talk about his wife all over America for her campaign.
“In the end, my candidate didn’t win,” he said. “But I’m very proud of the campaign she ran.”
He made it clear at the start of his speech he is now ready to throw his support behind Obama.
“Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama,” he said, talking about his wife’s speech last night. “That makes two of us. Actually, that makes 18 million of us. I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.”— JB
7:06 p.m. Among those in the house to hear Clinton, Muhammad Ali, Ben Affleck and Chevy Chase. — KJ
7:03 p.m. Former President Bill Clinton stepped on stage at the Democratic National Convention tonight as the floor of the Pepsi Center turned into a sea of waving American flags and the band played his signature tune, “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.”
The standing ovation and cheers lasted so long Clinton struggled to start his speech. When he finally started, chants of “Bill! Bill! Bill!” cut him off again.
“I love you, but we have important work to do tonight,” he said. “I am here first to support Barack Obama.”
Hillary Clinton gave a rousing endorsement of Obama last night and tonight was Bill Clinton’s turn to peel back the line of attack he used against Obama during the divisive primary campaign. His speech came just hours after Hillary Clinton walked on the floor of the Pepsi Center to join the New York delegation and move that delegates suspend the roll call vote and name Obama the presidential nominee. — JB
6:32 p.m. Muhammad Ali is moving through the Pepsi Center floor. — KJ
6:32 p.m. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called this election “among the most critical in our nation’s history.”
“We cannot afford once again to make the wrong choice or to be taken in by the politics of fear,” she said.
Albright called arriving in Denver a “homecoming” of sorts for her. Denver is the city that welcomed her family to the United States after they were driven from Czechoslovakia, “first by Nazi storm troopers and then by communists,” she said.
“Denver is where I grew up believing in the American dream and in a country that, more than any other, is associated with truth, justice and freedom,” she said. — JB
6:08 p.m. Melissa Etheridge has delegates on their feet dancing with “Give Peace a Chance” and “Born in the USA.” Cameras were flashing from the sea of delegates as Etheridge rocked out on stage with her guitar. — JB
5:01 p.m. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York — Clinton’s home state — was the first to take the stage after the official nomination of Obama.
He called on delegates to help win Senate seats in key states: Colorado, Virginia, Alaska, New Mexico and New Hampshire, to name a few.
“The opportunity is too great and the stakes too high to allow President Obama’s agenda to be blocked by the special interests and their allies in the Senate,” Schumer said. — JB
4:55 p.m. Will Obama appear at Pepsi Center tonight? After saying that the presumptive nominee would not sneak into the convention hall tonight. Suddenly, the campaign has changed its answer. Campaign adviser David Axlerod said “it’s not on the schedule” when asked this afternoon. That’s no confirmation, but … — Karen Crummy
4:52 p.m. Delegates hopped to their feet and danced to “Love Train,” some swaying with their arms above their heads, after officially declaring Obama the Democratic nominee for president. Roll call was suspended after Obama received two-thirds of the vote, 1,486 votes. — JB
4:48 p.m. Hillary Clinton joins the New York delegation on the floor.
“With eyes firmly fixed on the future, with the spirit of unity … Let’s declare together with one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our next president,” she shouted, making a motion that Obama be selected as the nominee.
Delegates are waving signs saying “Yes We Can” and “Obama.” — JB
4:45 p.m. Delegates erupted into cheers of “Yes we can!” after New Jersey gave all 127 votes to Barack Obama. Then New Mexico yielded to Illinois, Obama’s home state, which yielded to New York, home of Hillary Clinton. Delegates began to shout as Clinton began making her way into the Pepsi Center. — JB
4:24 p.m. Delegates were relishing their turn in the spotlight as they stepped up to vote. Some of them dressed for the occasion – Hawaii delegates wore flower leis. Louisianans touted their gumbo. Maryland introduced itself as the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner. Massachusetts got booed when it called itself the home of the Red Sox but cheered for being the first state for “equality in marriage.”
Illinois, home state of Obama, passed on its roll call. Indiana, the Hoosier state, casts six votes for Clinton and 75 for Obama. Iowa, where a delegate said “it all started for Barack Obama,” casts 48 votes for Obama and nine for Clinton. — JB
4:07 p.m. California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said that his state passed because votes are still being tabulated. Numerous state legislators were unable to attend the convention due to a budget stalemate in Sacramento. Torres was still counting up alternate votes when the state was called. “We gotta get it done pretty soon,” Torres said.
4:04 p.m. The folks from V.P. candidate Joe Biden home state of Delaware wearing neon necklaces — KJ
4:03 p.m. D.C. delegation is making a statement… wants full federal recognition. — KJ
3:58 p.m. Each state’s delegation is taking a turn at the mike to announce how many votes they have for each candidate. The roll call will stop when Obama has enough votes.
Arkansas delegates get huge cheers for announcing all 47 of their votes will go to Obama, in the spirit of unity. California delegates stepped to stage and passed, waiting to vote later. Their announcement was met with bewildered silence. And Colorado delegates cast 55 votes for Obama and 15 for Clinton. — JB
3:58 p.m. From the snowcapped mountains… and all the great things about our state. Casting 55 votes for Obama and 15 for Clinton — KJ
3:51 p.m. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will call the roll for votes until Barack Obama has enough to win the nomination. — JB
3:49 p.m. Only about half of the delegates are in their seats for the nominating process, which got moved to the front of tonight’s program.
Obama’s nomination also is seconded by U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., who said Obama will be a president “who will affirm that terrorism can never win.” As he spoke, Alabama delegates jumped up and down.
“My fellow Democrats, my fellow Americans, I have never seen a moment like this … I have never seen my country as energized as this,” he said. “Our time is now!”
Roll call is beginning. — JB
3:42 p.m. Michael Wilson, a registered Republican from Florida and an Air Force medic who served in Iraq, nominated Barack Obama as chants of “Obama!” roared from the crowd.
“I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be here today nominating Barack Obama and the next president of the United States,” he said.
“I’ve seen war up close,” Wilson said. “I support Barack Obama because America needs a president who has the strength, wisdom and courage to talk to our enemies …. who will respect our veterans when they get back home instead of letting them languish without the medical care they deserve.”
U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., wearing his cowboy hat, seconded the nomination. He said his parents brought him up to know that “no matter who you are, no matter where you’re from, anything is possible in our America.”
“Another mother instilled that same dream in her son, Barack Obama,” Salazar said. “For Barack Obama, that dream runs deep in his soul.”
Salazar says America needs “a president who will make sure that no matter who you are, no matter where you’re from, you too can work hard to achieve the American dream.” — JB
3:38 p.m. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., is speaking.
3:32 p.m. Clinton’s nomination is seconded by Denise Williams Harris, a Clinton campaign volunteer from Syracuse, N.Y.
“I am a proud New Yorker, a proud woman of color … and a proud supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton,” she said. — JB
3:27 p.m. Dolores Huerta, a national civil rights leader from California, makes history by nominating Hillary Rodham Clinton – the first woman to have her name placed in nomination to become president of the United States. Huerta, who gave part of her speech in Spanish, called herself a “passionate” Clinton supporter.
“Hillary’s values are the values of my family and my community,” she said. “For Hillary Clinton, no American is invisible.”
Many delegates still weren’t in their seats for Huerta’s speech, making applause fairly small. — JB
3:15 p.m. The band inside the Pepsi Center is kicking off the third night of the Democratic National Convention with the Temptations’ “Get Ready” and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street” as delegates start filling their seats.
Texas state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a convention co-chair, is calling the convention to order. And Paul Bucha of Connecticut, who earned the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam, is giving the pledge of allegiance. Robert Moore, a South Dakota resident and council member in the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, sings the national anthem. — JB
