Democrats Nominate Obama at DNC

If it was a tv mini-series, they might have called it "Lining Up the Ducks in Denver." The Democratic Party has put all of its internal narratives aside, and today, the final day of the Democratic National Convention, it’s all about Barack Obama, who is now the official nominee of the Democratic Party — the first African American to have the nomination of a major party in the United States.

The settling of scores and the projection of unity was very much in evidence last night at the convention — Andrea Bernstein, "The Takeaway’s" Political Director reports on the highlights:

There was anxiety on the convention floor when Bill Clinton took the stage, but fears were put to rest when he finally spoke after receiving a standing ovation from the audience. In his speech, Clinton compared Obama to himself: "16 years ago, you gave me the profound honor to lead our party to victory and to lead our nation to a new era of peace and broadly shared prosperity.

"Together, we prevailed in a hard campaign in which Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief."

When Joe Biden had his turn at the podium, he did what a vice president was supposed to do and laid out all the reasons why John McCain would make a horrible president.

Biden said that he was a friend of McCain, but, "I profoundly disagree with the direction that John wants to take the country … And when he says to continue to spend $10 billion a month when the Iraqis have a surplus of nearly $80 billion, that’s not change. That’s more of the same."

Tonight Barack Obama will give his speech accepting his Party’s nomination.

"The Takeaway" is PRI’s new national morning news program, delivering the news and analysis you need to catch up, start your day, and prepare for what’s ahead. The show is a co-production of WNYC and PRI, in editorial collaboration with the BBC, The New York Times Radio, and WGBH.

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