Dispatches from Denver

While outside Denver the talk may have been all Michelle Obama '85 on Monday, inside the convention hall delegates were equally abuzz about the tribute to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) Delegates' emotions, expressed in loud cheers and hushed comments about his poor health, were heartfelt. When the senator turned his head to reveal a bald spot that resulted from his surgery, audience members audibly gasped.

The theme for Tuesday night, unofficially titled "Hillary's night," was unity. This was necessary since Monday in Denver had quickly destroyed my confidence that Clinton supporters' rumored anger was all bark and no bite. Hillary shirts abounded in Denver, and many delegates wore "Hillary Delegate" pins.

When Hillary appeared on stage, the applause was mixed. Die-hard Obama supporters supplied golf-claps while Hillary supporters yelled as if their voices alone could win her the nomination. Since attendees had been handed two different placards-one that read "Hillary" one that read "unity"- a few Obama supporters debated aloud whether to wave a sign supporting their former foe or maintain their allegiances and instead support a united party. After Hillary's solid endorsement of Obama, her supporters seemed almost ready to move on. At the very least, far fewer people wore Hillary shirts on Wednesday.

Bill Clinton's speech, which stole the spotlight from Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) on Wednesday, sealed the deal. As Bill walked out on stage, he was greeted by an extraordinarily lengthy ovation that outdid the one Obama received the next night. After remarking on-camera coyly that he "loved" the greeting, he silenced it by stepping to stage right and angrily whispering to those leading the cheers that they needed to quiet down so he could start speaking. TV coverage did not seem to fully capture his real anger at that moment. While his words were persuasive, his presence hit all the right notes by giving Hillary fans one more chance to cheer for a Clinton and reminding everyone that the idea of a two-term Democratic president is more than a dream. The reviews at the restaurants that night were positively gushing.

By Thursday night, when the activities moved to the 85,000 seat Invesco Field, the anticipation was almost overwhelming. The crowd spontaneously started the wave and repeated chants of "Yes We Can." False rumors that Bruce Springsteen was backstage abounded. Yet the excitement was replaced by confusion in the hour leading up to Obama's speech as a cast of ordinary Americans straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting strutted onto the stage. Attendees fretted why Obama had replaced the usual lineup of famous pols with ordinary Americans during this primetime hour and whether the networks would broadcast it at all. The absence of almost any non-white faces on stage or in Obama's introductory biographical video proved that organizers were working hard to make delegates and the rest of America forget that they were witnessing history and to ignore Obama's race.

Yet, delegates would not cooperate. The refrain, "we have just witnessed history," punctuated the air as the crowd exited the stadium and many wept openly at the end of the night. Four days of trying to make Obama less "exotic" had not succeeded in altering the fact that his candidacy is historic because of his race. To the delegates, Obama remained a black man running for president. If those in attendance could not be hoodwinked into forgetting this fact, then I doubt the rest of Amerca will be. Whether his race will be positive, negative or neutral in the eyes of the voters in November remains to be seen.

Adam Bradlow is a sophomore and a member of Wilson College from Potomac, Md. He can be reached at abradlow@princeton.edu.