DENVER — Turning the personal into the political, Democrats opened their presidential nominating convention Monday with testimonials to Barack Obama as a husband, father, brother and, above all, a leader able to transcend the nation's long divide across racial and gender lines.
It was a parade of the past and future, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts -- ailing in the twilight of his 46-year career -- vouching for Obama, who dawned on the national scene at the Democrats' convention four years ago.
Playing the role of chief character witness was Obama's wife, Michelle, who cast herself and her husband as symbols of America's potential and its promise.
"I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president," Michelle Obama said, though she never mentioned his effort to break the ultimate racial barrier by winning the White House.
For all of the upbeat talk, tensions continued to stir between supporters of the Illinois senator and Hillary Rodham Clinton, threatening the unity that Democrats desperately seek as they face a rugged fight against Republican John McCain.
None of that friction was visible, however, during the official program beamed worldwide from the star-spangled inside of Denver's Pepsi Center sports arena. The agenda was clear and two-pronged: Build an image of Obama as an everyman and start ripping McCain apart.
The getting-to-know-you phase featured several branches of Obama's family tree, including his brother-in-law, his sister and several longtime friends and associates from his adopted home state of Illinois.
The advocate in chief was Michelle Obama, whose own ascension to the national political stage -- and sometimes tart commentary -- has not always been smooth, or helpful to her husband.
Reaching for the transcendence of her husband's 2004 address at the party's last national gathering -- and his disavowal of a red-and-blue America -- she declared: "Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background is, or what party, if any, you belong to. That's not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us -- our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's future -- is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree."
Much of her 20-minute speech was simple and plain-spoken, delivered in a crisp tone. To those who would question her patriotism, as some have, Obama offered a long and passionate paean to America's possibility, ending with the affirmation: "That is why I love this country."
