Hillary Clinton has addressd the the U.S. Democratic National Convention, with
a speech aimed at unifying the party behind Barack Obama in the upcoming
presidential campaign.
Senator Clinton's speech began after a video
tribute and a standing ovation from delegates, honoring her hard-fought but
ultimately unsuccessful campaign to be the Democratic nominee for
president.
Clinton urged her supporters to enthusiastically back her
former rival during the primary campaign, Barack Obama. He will become the first
African-American nominee of a major U. S. political party when he accepts the
nomination Thursday on the final day of the convention in Denver,
Colorado.
Before Clinton's speech, former Virginia governor and current
Senate candidate Mark Warner delivered the convention's keynote address. He said
this election is about the future versus the past, and he joined other speakers
criticizing Republican candidate John McCain and the policies of President
George Bush.
Democrats are urging unity after
the long primary battle between Obama and Clinton. But polls indicate a
significant number of Clinton supporters will vote for McCain as president.
Some of Clinton's backers remain upset she lost and that Obama did not
select her to become his vice-presidential candidate.
The governor of
Ohio, Ted Strickland, paid tribute at the top of his speech to the convention to
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an African-American congresswoman from Ohio who recently
died of an aneurism.
Republicans take the spotlight next week, when the
party holds its national convention in St. Paul, Minnesota to nominate McCain as
its presidential nominee.