BY STEVE HOLLAND
Denver, Aug. 27: Bill Clinton once vowed to fight for voters "until the last dog dies." He will show how hard he can fight for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on the Clintons’ last big day of the 2008 campaign.
The former President’s prime-time speech is the capstone on an eventful day at the Democratic National Convention, which will formally nominate Mr Obama, 47, as the Democrats’ candidate to face Republican John McCain in the November 4 election.
Hillary Clinton, 60, who lost to Mr Obama in a protracted primary battle but threw herself behind him unequivocally in a well-received speech on Tuesday night, is expected to free her delegates to back Mr Obama on Wednesday.
"Barack Obama is my candidate," she said to roars of approval in a speech that left no doubt of her desire to set aside grievances and seek party unity. "And he must be our President."
In a symbolic gesture, she will be formally nominated on Wednesday as a way of honouring her and placating her supporters, some of whom have been complaining loudly that Mr Obama did not pick her as his vice-presidential running mate.
Sign-waving convention-goers, seeking eagerly to win back the White House after eight years of Republican George W. Bush, will also hear from the man who will likely lead the attack on Mr McCain, Mr Obama’s vice-presidential running mate, veteran Delaware Senator Joe Biden. This comes at a time when Democrats are honing a message aimed at accusing Mr McCain of being out of touch with everyday American economic concerns because he and his wife, Cindy McCain, own seven houses.
But the event with the most potential for drama will come when Bill Clinton takes the stage. More so than his wife, Mr Clinton has had trouble reconciling with Mr Obama after a primary feud in which Mr Obama accused Mr Clinton of injecting racial politics into the campaign.
"There is still work to do on the Bill Clinton front," Howard Wolfson, former Hillary Clinton senior campaign strategist, wrote in the New Republic this week.
—Reuters
