Obama To Accept Democratic Nomination

MELISSA BLOCK, Host:

From NPR news, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:

And I'm Robert Siegel. Barack Obama will accept his party's presidential nomination tonight before about 76,000 people in Denver's Invesco Field, the big football stadium there. It is packed, and the crowd has been hearing from many people, performances by Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder, and speeches from, among others, Al Gore, who recalled his narrow loss eight years ago to George W. Bush.

BLOCK: We face, essentially, the same choice we faced in 2000, though it may be even more obvious now because John McCain, a man who has earned our respect on many levels, is now openly endorsing the policies of the Bush-Cheney White House and promising to actually continue them, the same policies, those policies all over again. Hey, I believe in recycling, but that's ridiculous.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

SIEGEL: Our colleague, Michele Norris, is at Denver's Invesco Field and joins us. Hi, Michele.

MICHELE NORRIS, Host:

Hey, Robert.

SIEGEL: What's it like? Wow, it's noisy, for one thing.

NORRIS: Oh, it's very noisy. Fans of Michael McDonald will recognize his signature voice. He's singing "America the Beautiful" right now. Robert, if I have one thing to say about this event, the word big comes to mind. And you know, that big, huge, open arena, it is almost packed. They said that they were going to pack more than 76,000 people in here. They're not quite there yet. There are a few people - few seats available in - I guess you would call - the nosebleed seats.

But the whole point of taking this out of the Pepsi Center and bringing it here to Invesco Field at Mile High was to open this up to regular people. That's what the campaign said, that they wanted to make sure that people beyond the delegates and the dignitaries and the political high rollers who've packed into Denver get a chance to be here and hear Obama speak and be a part of what they think will be a night that many people will remember.

SIEGEL: Well, politically, and this is certainly a big moment for Barack Obama, this, and I guess after it, the debates with John McCain. This is one of the big moments when he gets to address millions and millions of Americans by television and make an impression. What's the - what is their aim? What are they hoping to accomplish here?

NORRIS: Well, they've got a long to-do list. I mean, he has to strike several chords. It would be very unlikely that he won't take a good deal of time to note this historic anniversary. This, as you noted, is the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington. And he will probably spend a good deal of time talking about unity. But he's also going to be talking about the economy, trying to put a little meat on the bones, as it were, to lay out a few more specifics about what he would do to jumpstart the economy. But they're also trying to use, not just this evening, but really, the three days leading up to this convention, to portray Barack Obama as a man of the people, to bring him a little bit closer to the ground. He's often seen as someone who's a little bit aloof, a little bit professorial, a Harvard graduate.

Well, they want to know some of the more common aspects of his biography, the fact that he was raised by - primarily by a single mother, lived with his grandparents, lived on food stamps for a time. I think you're going to be hearing him strike some of those chords as well. You know, it's a difficult balance because you also, at the same time, want to appear common but also presidential.

SIEGEL: This is a man who's been actually criticized for too much soaring rhetoric. So, I gather, they have tried to downplay that a bit, promising a more workmanlike speech, that was a word that came out of the Obama camp earlier today.

NORRIS: Yeah. You know, I think that the word I used was "say it plain." But, you know, you don't come into a place like this with 76,000 people and this stage that's filled with Doric columns, and all these flags, and all of this sweep, and just, you know, deliver a lot of sort of plain speak. I mean, I think we can expect that the rhetoric will be soaring at times. It's what he's known for. But I think in the stories within that rhetoric, that's where he'll try to strike a common chord.

SIEGEL: Speech still an hour off. Michele Norris in Denver, thanks a lot.

NORRIS: Thank you, Robert. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

You're also going to hear from Martin Luther King III. You're going to hear from Al Gore, you're going to hear from John Lewis, King and Lewis of course, speaking in part because it's also a very important anniversary. And then, much later, Barack Obama will take the stage.

And I just have to note, it is quite an interesting stage. Perhaps this is - he's paying homage to soldier fields(ph). But with these Doric columns, it sort of has this - I don't know, it looks it almost resembles Caesar's Palace or something.

SIEGEL: Mm-hmm. You know, as for themes in the Obama speech, you say identification with humble origins, humble roots might be one. What are the themes you think we might hear stressed (unintelligible)?

NORRIS: Well, it's hard to imagine, Robert, that he won't talk about America coming together because of this important anniversary. But - you know, nominees generally have a long list of things to do. Barack Obama has specific things.

In part, he has to get specific about his plan, for instance, to get the economy going, about what he plans to do to bring troops home. He also has to try to connect with people because there are number of people who still feel like they don't really know him. They view him as someone who's somewhat exotic. And so, I think that you'll hear him try to bring the rhetoric down sort of closer to the ground tonight.

SIEGEL: Okay. Thank you, Michele.

NORRIS: Good to talk to you, Robert.

SIEGEL: That's our colleague Michele Norris who is at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado.