Obama makes surprise appearance

HISTORIC DAY | Nominee makes surprise appearance to hail Biden, salute Clintons

DENVER -- Barack Obama walked onto the stage of the Democratic National Convention late Wednesday, just hours after he walked into the history books.

The skinny guy from the South Side of Chicago became the first African American to head a major party presidential ticket when delegates unanimously nominated him by a voice vote in late afternoon.

Then minutes before the convention closed for the night, Obama made a surprise appearance in the convention hall to congratulate running mate Joe Biden on his fiery speech accepting the vice presidential nomination.

"Hello, Democrats. I just wanted to come out here with a little something to say," Obama told the cheering crowd. "I want everybody to now understand why I am so proud to have Joe Biden ... and the whole Biden family with me on this journey to take America back."

Obama recapped some of the convention's highlights -- his wife's Monday night speech and the Tuesday and Wednesday night appearances of the Clintons.

"If I'm not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night," Obama said, continuing to reach out to his former rival's supporters. "President Bill Clinton reminded us what it's like when you have a president who actually puts people first."

In between the late-afternoon roll call vote and the surprise close to the night, Obama's supporters paved the way for his own acceptance speech tonight.

The newly minted presidential nominee was portrayed as someone who knows how much a tank of gas costs, how to direct a tax cut to middle-class families instead of the wealthy, and how to send troops to the people who caused 9/11 instead of "borrowing a flight suit" and sending more troops to Iraq.

It was a night for Biden to show off his speaking skills and his family.

"I am here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington," Biden said. "I am here for the cops and firefighters, the teachers and assembly line workers -- the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures."

"These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. I'm ready. Barack is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America's time," Biden said, shaking both of his fists in the air.

Biden also fulfilled his role as an attack dog against the Republican ticket, but he also tried to show his warmer side, pointing to his mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, in the audience, portraying her as a loving mother who nevertheless taught him to fight.

"When I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, she sent me back out and demanded that I bloody their nose so I could walk down that street the next day," he said.

Bill Clinton uttered the words "Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States" -- words Republicans criticized his wife for not using in her speech the previous night. In addition to Biden and Bill Clinton, Illinois Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth spoke Wednesday night, one of a parade of soldiers, female veterans and military spouses who vouched for Obama's credentials to be commander-in-chief.

"I know Barack Obama. I met him when he visited me and other wounded troops at Walter Reed. He came without reporters. He wasn't looking for credit. He just cared about how we were doing," said Duckworth, who could be Obama's senatorial successor if he wins the White House.