DENVER — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy told a cheering Democratic National Convention last night that his is "a season of hope" for a stronger future in America, his wave familiar, his voice firm, despite his struggle against brain cancer.
And he added: "I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate."
That had special meaning given the bleak prognosis he faces with his disease.
"The hope rises again and the dream lives on," he said after his seven minutes at the microphone, minutes of high and unexpected drama for delegates waving thousands of Kennedy signs, cheering as he came and as he stepped away into the arms of his wife Vicki.
"My fellow Democrats, my fellow Americans, it is so wonderful to be here," he said. "And nothing, nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering ..."
He flew to Denver Sunday night, and his first stop was a hospital, where doctors examined him. His physicians had been wary of the trip, especially his exposure to crowds, given the weakness of his immune system after weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The brain cancer was diagnosed after he collapsed in May in Hyannis Port. After brain surgery in June, he had remained at home, save for a brief trip to Washington to cast a Senate vote on July 10 for Medicare legislation that had been stalled in deadlock.
In one of their first orders of business, delegates ratified a party platform tailored to Obama's specifications. It backs "complete redeployment within 16 months from Iraq," as well as health care for all, a new economic stimulus package and higher taxes on families earning over $250,000 a year.
"The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right," it said.
The convention's opening gavel fell with Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton still struggling to work out the choreography for the formal roll call of the states that will make him — a 47-year-old senator bidding to become the first black president — the party nominee.
"There is no doubt in anyone's mind that this is Barack Obama's convention," the former first lady told reporters. And yet, she said, some of her delegates "feel an obligation to the people who sent them here" and would vote for her.
The young Illinois senator also fought on a second front, moving to quash a television commercial linking him to a 1960s-era radical before it could damage his candidacy as the infamous Swift Boat ads sank John Kerry four years ago.
As the delegates took their seats in the Pepsi Center, Obama campaigned in Iowa, the first in a string of swing states he is visiting en route to Colorado. He arranged to watch his wife's speech on television later from Kansas City, then speak briefly to the convention via a huge TV screen.
Public opinion polls made the race with Republican John McCain a close one, unexpectedly so given a widespread desire for change in an era of economic uncertainty, continuing conflict in Iraq and poor approval ratings for GOP President Bush.
Obama delivers his acceptance speech on Thursday at a football stadium, before a crowd likely to total 75,000 or more. Then he and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, his vice presidential running mate, depart for the fall campaign.
If the opening night's convention program had a feel-good quality, not so the intensifying campaign outside the hall.
Obama shipped a new commercial that used humor to depict McCain as an extension of the Bush administration, the latest in a series of negative advertisements by both sides.
"Really can't explain the price of gas, or what has happened to the middle class," the announcer sings to the tune of Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World." With McCain and Bush appearing together on the screen, the announcer says, "Do we really want four more years of the same old tune?"
While the White House is the biggest prize of the election year, prominent Democrats expressed optimism in Associated Press interviews about major gains in the fall in races for the House and Senate.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said 70 or more House seats are competitive, the majority of them currently in Republican hands.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said fashioning a 60-seat, filibuster-proof Senate majority was a stretch. But he added that Democrats lead for five seats currently in Republican hands, and several others are competitive.
Howard Dean, the party chairman, rapped the opening gavel precisely on schedule at 3 p.m. Mountain Time — before only a smattering of delegates.
"We are ready to compete in all 50 states in November," he said, even though Obama has already written off large portions of the South and Mountain West.
Schumer and Van Hollen said only a small fraction of Clinton's delegates remained unreconciled to Obama's triumph in the bruising primaries of the winter and spring.
Perhaps so, but they were vocal about it, and officials said one of the issues under discussion was whether to permit a noisy floor demonstration by Clinton's supporters when the former first lady's name is placed in nomination on Wednesday night.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest child of the late Robert F. Kennedy and a former lieutenant governor of Maryland, said the animosity that some Clinton delegates feel toward Obama is worsening. "There's a moment that you want to enjoy your bitterness," she said, although she emphasized that she is supporting Obama.
