A Portrait of the Candidate, but Dots Left to Connect

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Michelle Obama Speaks Passionately at DNC

Michelle Obama closed the first day of the Democratic National Convention with an impassioned speech about her life, values, and support for her husband.

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The challenge was underscored as well by a new report by the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, which said that Obama is underperforming among conservative Democrats in Macomb County, Mich., which has embodied the term "Reagan Democrats" for two decades. "There is a problem with Reagan Democrats," the report concluded.

Democrats are excited about this convention, reflecting their hunger to recapture the White House after eight years of President Bush. But they know that for that to happen, they must make the most of it to send Obama out of Denver with a fresh wind at his back.

That will require several things to happen. The first is the reunification of a party where in some quarters Democrats are still nursing the wounds of the Obama-Clinton nomination battle.

Clinton will speak Tuesday night, and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, will speak on Wednesday. In between will be a roll call in which her name is put in nomination, a concession to the 18 million votes she received in the primaries and caucuses and to the need to give her supporters a moment to savor before full attention turns to Obama.

Another key is Obama's acceptance speech on Thursday night at the football stadium that is home to the Denver Broncos. The theatrics of that event are guaranteed -- 70,000 or more people cheering on their nominee. But what he says, not only about himself but also about how he plans to confront the country's problems, will be even more important.

In between, his convention planners looked to paint a portrait of Obama through the words of friends and colleagues, and that began Monday in Denver's Pepsi Center. The portrait the speakers drew was of a young man like many in America, who was raised by a single mother, who came from a family of modest means, who struggled as a young man, who found himself and who has gone on to make extraordinary accomplishments.

Alexi Giannoulis, the Illinois state treasurer, put it this way: "Barack Obama has been my friend, my mentor, my inspiration. Now, he's going to be the next president of the United States of America. Because his story is our story. Your story. My story. It's the American story."

Validation came from a range of speakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and Obama's half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. She described Obama as someone who could help the nation and its children achieve their dreams, as she said he had inspired her.

Step by step, the Democrats and Obama's convention planners hope to lead voters to a comfort zone with the candidate. If they are successful, and he delivers what he hopes to on Thursday night, Democrats will leave Denver more confident that they can win what they know will be a difficult battle between now and November. But Monday's opening night left much to do in the days ahead.