Clinton to Take Stage in Praise of Obama's Candidacy

Michelle Obama also did her part to try to heal the lingering wounds of the long struggle for the nomination when she recognized Clinton, "who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters -- and our sons -- can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher."

But the stream of new faces -- including Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson, and freshman Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), one of the candidate's fiercest supporters -- and a rousing anthem from John Legend, who helped craft the viral music videos that have powered the Obama movement, signaled that the torch is changing hands. Caroline Kennedy tried to bridge that generational shift when she told the crowd, "I have never had someone inspire me the way people tell me my father inspired them, but I do now: Barack Obama."

When Michelle Obama took to the podium, she was greeted with sustained applause and a sea of blue "Michelle" placards.

"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," she said. "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."

After she finished, daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, met her onstage, where they were soon joined by her husband via a video link from Kansas City, Mo., where he watched the speech at the home of Jim and Alicia Girardeau. "You were unbelievable," he said, "and you look pretty cute," to which Sasha replied, "Thanks."

Michelle Obama's task was to reintroduce her husband to the nation as the candidate most capable of responding to the struggles of ordinary Americans, weary of war and beset by debt, division and fears of decline.

"Even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent, in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine," she recalled of the man who courted her as a young lawyer. "He was raised by grandparents who were working-class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. And like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them."

Standing "where the current of history meets this new tide of hope," the woman who would be the first African American first lady looked ahead to an evening when her daughters would tell their children about the 2008 election, and "how this time, in this great country -- where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House -- we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be."

Indeed, the anti-Republican red meat was left for an unlikely source, soft-spoken former GOP congressman Jim Leach of Iowa, who hailed Obama as "a transcendent candidate" as he criticized his own party.

"The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values," Leach said. "The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the Earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts."

Campaigning in Iowa Monday, Obama tried to ease his party's divisions, conceding that "there are going to be some of Senator Clinton's supporters who we're going to have to work hard to persuade to come on board -- that's not surprising." But, he added: "If you take a look this week, I am absolutely convinced that both Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton understand the stakes."

But the nerves were not easily calmed ahead of Hillary Clinton's speech on Tuesday and Bill Clinton's appearance on Wednesday. Hillary Clinton addressed the New York delegation at a breakfast Monday morning. But while supporters waved signs declaring "Hillary Made History," the senator's focus was on the future.