In glorious style, Obama has kicked off the official Democratic campaign, though the road to the White House will be long and hard, writes James Zogby* We are at the midway point in the official launch of the 2008 US presidential election. One convention has ended; another is just beginning. I write from Denver, the site of the Democratic convention, and as is always the case, this has been an exhausting and exhilarating week. The formal evening meetings of the convention were only part of the story -- but what a story. The emotional surprise appearance of Senator Edward Kennedy on the first day set the tone for the week. The "old warrior", under treatment for a malignant brain tumour, made the difficult and risky trip to Denver not to deliver a valedictory address, but to remind his party colleagues of the challenges ahead and to spur them on. Kennedy was followed by Michelle Obama, whose keynote remarks were made necessary by the campaign of vilification she has endured. She is an intelligent and forceful African American woman, who some have sought to caricature as a radical, out of touch with the mainstream. Since race, no doubt, played an important role here, Michelle Obama's narrative (as a daughter, wife, mother and working woman) was an important reminder of just how American her story is. Next on the agenda was the need to resolve 18 months of a hard-fought campaign between senators Obama and Clinton. The process began with Senator Hillary Clinton's endorsement of Obama on Tuesday night, and was completed the next evening by former president Bill Clinton's tribute to his potential peer. By the end of president Clinton's speech it was clear that the Democratic Party is now led by Senator Obama, with Clinton acknowledging that the mantle of leadership had been passed on. Wednesday was also Senator Joe Biden's day. In well-crafted remarks, the vice presidential nominee both reintroduced himself as a fighter for the common man and defined the differences between Democrats and Republicans on domestic and foreign policy. Thursday was the actual lift-off of the campaign. It was a well-orchestrated political tour-de-force before 84,000 Americans, the largest political convention gathering in history. The night's speakers included former vice-president Al Gore, vice- presidential nominee Biden, a host of retired generals, leading Democratic and Republican Party luminaries, and ordinary Americans. By now the themes of the convention were clear: the Bush administration failed in both its economic and foreign policies, and John McCain was presented as seeking "a third term for the Bush administration". Speaker after speaker told of economic hardships and unmet needs -- hurricane Katrina, factory closings, lack of healthcare, a battered infrastructure and educational system -- and called for change, not four more years of the same policies. And finally, Barack Obama delivered his address accepting the nomination of the party. The fact that this speech was being given on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech was an important reminder to the nation of how far America has come. Obama, who at many times in his career, has been challenged to deliver "the speech of his life" did not disappoint. What he was expected to do, he did. He took the fight directly to McCain, making clear that he would match his experience and, most importantly, judgement on foreign policy against what he described as McCain's repeated failure to make the right call. Obama laid out, in detail, his policy programmes on a range of domestic and foreign policy challenges. Concluding with the soaring rhetoric that has become his trademark, echoing John Kennedy, Obama inspired the nation to be confident that the many challenges facing it could be met. But that was not all that this convention was about. Throughout the week there were scores of official and unofficial caucuses and meetings of the party faithful and affiliated organisations. During these sessions, thousands of participants debated issues and engaged in planning strategies for the two-month race to November. On the last day, charged with an agenda, Democrats left Denver and went back to their 50 states and started planning for the fall. Making clear how difficult are the challenges ahead, and how supercharged this contest will be, no sooner had the four-day event ended than McCain, the Republican's nominee, announced his surprise pick for vice-president -- a virtually unknown governor from Alaska, Sarah Palin. Palin is as young and inexperienced in the ways of politics as McCain is old and a fixture in Washington. The novelty, however, of her having been chosen has allowed Republicans to dominate the airwaves, diverting attention from the conclusion of the Democratic convention and giving McCain a press coup. With Obama and Biden now beginning a post- convention campaign tour, attention turns to the Republican convention that begins Monday in Minneapolis. It will be as orchestrated and charged an affair as the Democrats' event, as the Republicans will work to reintroduce their candidates to the nation. Like the Democrats, they will seek to define the differences between the two parties, inspire their faithful, present their agenda and inspire their base. By all indications a hard fought contest lies ahead. * The writer is president of the Arab American Institute.
