Democrats nominate Obama, backed by Clintons

Bill Clinton unites Democrats, says Obama ready to lead

DENVER (Reuters)

To shouts of "Yes we can," Democrats nominated Barack Obama on Wednesday as their presidential candidate in a historic first for a black American, backed by his ex-rivals Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Former President Bill Clinton, who has been slow to warm to Obama after the bruising primary battle that his wife lost, gave Obama an unwavering seal of approval in a speech to a packed convention hall where delegates cheered his appearance for so long that he had to ask them to sit down.

"My fellow Democrats, I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and to restore American leadership in the world," former President Clinton told flag-waving delegates who interrupted him repeatedly with roars of approval.

"Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States," he said.

And earlier, in an emotional moment of unity, Sen. Hillary Clinton strode onto the floor of the party's national convention during a roll call of the states and formally asked Democratic delegates to suspend their count and approve Obama's nomination by acclamation.

"With eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let's declare together in one voice right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president," she said to raucous cheers.

Her request was quickly accepted by the convention's presiding official, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.

When Pelosi pounded a gavel to declare Obama the nominee, delegates held hands together up high, danced and swayed back and forth to the song "Love Train" in celebration of the moment.

"Yes we can," the crowd chanted. "Obama!"

Pelosi announced a short time later that Obama had accepted the nomination and would tell the convention that himself in his acceptance speech on Thursday night.

Remarkable moment

It was a remarkable moment for Obama, the son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas who was raised in humble beginnings and began his relatively short political career as a community organizer in Chicago.

Four years ago he gave a stirring keynote speech to the Democratic national convention as just a candidate for Senate with no national experience. But that speech propelled him in a rapid political rise that ended with the nomination.

In honor of Clinton's tenacity in her bruising primary battle with Obama and in an effort to encourage party unity, delegates had earlier granted the symbolic gesture of nominating Clinton herself for the candidacy.

The Clintons' coordinated moves to help Obama could prove important toward binding the wounds from the Clinton-Obama battle that split the two camps and left some Clinton supporters vowing not to support Obama.

It could also help Hillary Clinton avoid blame should Obama lose to McCain this year and position herself as the go-to Democratic candidate in the 2012 election.

Obama's nomination formally set the 47-year-old first-term senator on track to face McCain in the Nov. 4 election in a race that has been neck-and-neck for weeks, with McCain's Republican nominating convention to take place next week in the Minnesota city of St. Paul.

Bill Clinton, a master politician who stumbled this year in trying to help his wife, noted that when he first ran for president in 1992, Republicans then, as now, claimed the Democratic candidate was too inexperienced to serve as president.

"Sound familiar? It didn't work in 1992 because we were on the right side of history, and it will not work in 2008 because Barack Obama is on the right side of history," he said.

An eventful day at the Democratic National Convention was to conclude with a speech by Obama's vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joe Biden after his nomination for the position.

Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, arrived in Denver to prepare for his acceptance speech on Thursday to a crowd of about 80,000 people at the Denver Broncos' pro football stadium.

Speaking at a veterans' round-table in Billings, Montana, Obama said, "We've had a great convention so far."

"We've had two powerful women speak back-to-back on each night, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton," he said. Obama's wife Michelle had addressed the convention on Monday.

Top Obama strategist David Axelrod told reporters on Obama's flight to Denver that Obama's big speech was essentially written.

"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 Sen. McCain is offering," Axelrod said.