BARACK OBAMA

DENVER — As Senator Barack Obama took the stage on the 50-yard line to a blinding flicker of flashbulbs, toddlers waved small flags on their parents’ shoulders, tears ran down elderly faces and a roar befitting a Denver Broncos touchdown filled Invesco Field. “Change” signs formed a sea of blue, and chants of “U.S.A.” competed with “Yes, we can.”

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Damon Winter/The New York Times
Senators, delegates, party bigwigs and celebrities mingled among political tourists, teenage volunteers and older voters. More Photos »
“With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States,” Mr. Obama said to begin his speech, the culmination of a marathon political carnival that bore little resemblance to any convention finale that had come before.

Under clear skies after a humid day, the crowd of nearly 80,000 was a hodgepodge of suited Democratic donors, senators, delegates, party bigwigs, celebrities, political tourists, teenage volunteers and older voters — many of them African-American — bent on seeing a moment they had thought they would never witness. Some waited for five hours in baking heat in a line up to a mile long to come to the stadium.

“I have no reason to be here other than to be a part of history,” said Janelle Murph, who had booked a last-minute flight from Baltimore to see the first African-American accept the nomination of a major party on the 45th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “When I realized it was on that anniversary, it just felt like fate. I had to be there.”

As afternoon turned to evening, the mood evolved from giddy to serious to — by the time Mr. Obama was talking about Iraq — nearly silent. Mr. Obama’s face loomed on big video screens overhead while he spoke. About half of the crowd remained standing throughout, a group that included far more young people in the stands than delegates on the floor. An elderly African-American man removed his oversize red, white and blue hat in deference as Mr. Obama spoke.

“Yes, we can,” the man chanted at appointed moments, in concert with others in Section 126.

The night sky brought an air of majesty to replace the summery festival feel of the late afternoon. While Mr. Obama spoke, people stopped texting and twittering to hear his words.

“America, this is not a time for small plans,” Mr. Obama said, and three teenage women chanted “Tell it, Barack” in unison.

“Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility, that’s the essence of the American promise,” he said.

“Tell it, Barack,” the women repeated.

“We cannot walk alone,” Mr. Obama said, quoting Dr. King.

“Tell it, Barack,” said a growing group that now included much of the section that the “tell it Barack” girls were sitting in.

The occasion was part coronation, part organizing meeting, part Woodstock. Inside the stadium, the home of the Broncos, chants of “Eight is enough,” referring to President Bush’s tenure, broke out, and big delegate hats outnumbered face paint (usually preferred at a football game). To some extent, the event resembled a Broncos game, though without beer sales, no discernible opposition and Mr. Obama in the spotlight role of John Elway (the Hall of Fame Broncos quarterback).

“This is one of the greatest experiences of my life,” said Jane Culkin, a 16-year-old volunteer who attends George Washington High School in Denver. Behind her, Carrie Siubutt, of Brooklyn, was eating a bowl of multicolored Dippin’ Dots while getting her first look at the stadium, which was filled by 7 p.m.

“This makes me feel very lucky to be an American,” said Ms. Siubutt, a native of Trinidad.

“I feel like I’m the only one here,” she said a few minutes later while flags filled the field, waving in rhythm to a “Sí, se puede” chant.

The scene was one of the most unusual sights in the annals of American political conventions. Overnight, the familiar trappings of the convention hall were moved outdoors, with banners from every state filling the field. As the afternoon wore on, the warm-up acts went from C- to B- to A-list, and spectators passed the time taking pictures, getting autographs and throwing the occasional Obama beach ball. By the time Al Gore came on at 6:45 p.m., the stadium was aflutter with flashbulbs, waving flags and Obama signs.

In a twist on the normal convention finale, the prominent figures — donors, elected officials and media celebrities like Dan Rather — looked somewhat like the interlopers. Younger people dressed in jeans and shorts — many not of voting age — seemed decidedly more at home, as if they were attending an open air concert and were fully versed in the festival ritual. The wave broke out in Section 338 just after Mr. Gore’s speech ended and spread quickly around the stadium.

The Obama campaign seemed to be trying to de-electrify the proceedings, keeping much of the focus on the grass roots instead of the rock star. A “Faces of America” montage flashed on a video screen in the back of a stage. There were a long procession of speakers from the military and relatively low-key musical acts and unintentionally subduing speeches from Democratic politicians.

The blue seats of the stadium gradually filled throughout the afternoon, with Democrats waiting for hours to hear Mr. Obama’s acceptance speech. The atmosphere was one of historic celebration, with a resolution read into the convention’s minutes stating, “Martin Luther King would have been proud.”

After all the lines and waits and security screenings, the first thing people found were phone banks: clusters of tables filled with phones and eager volunteers who handed out lists of names and numbers. Callers were instructed not to ask their targets for money or votes — just to turn on their televisions to watch Mr. Obama’s speech. The reward, or potential reward: a raffle with coveted floor seats as its prize.

The crowd was multiracial, and black voters, echoing one another, said they simply could not miss this moment.

Lillian Woods, 50, of Phoenix arrived at 1 p.m., seven hours before Mr. Obama would speak. “I had to be here for the whole thing,” she said, passing the time in the hot sun. “It’s history in the making.”

Alycee Nelson Ruley, a retired marine from Morton, Pa., recalled watching Walter Cronkite cover Dr. King’s March on Washington as an 8-year-old.

“I vividly remember watching, and I vividly remember not being able to go,” Ms. Ruley said. She is a Republican, but after Mr. Obama won the South Carolina primary, she vowed to go to Denver if he won the nomination.

Mr. Obama did a “God Bless America” closing and, a few minutes later, heads in the crowd shot upward to see the first pops of orange fireworks — the Obama version of the balloon drop. The Obamas, along with Mr. Obama’s running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., and his wife, Jill, hugged and mingled on stage to the orchestral booms of string and percussion. Smoke from the fireworks created a building haze overhead, dotted with specks of confetti.

People filled the aisles, heads turned in every direction. They pointed cameras at the sky as they filed out.

Jodi Kantor and Michael Powell contributed reporting.

More Articles in US » A version of this article appeared in print on August 29, 2008, on page A14 of the New York edition.


Campaign remains upbeat
Still, the Obama campaign said last Thursday that it had raised $10 million over the Internet in the 24 hours after the speech by Mr. McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, at the Republican convention on Wednesday, a one-day record for the campaign.

David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, said the majority of the Obama campaign’s donors during the primary had yet to write checks for the general election. When they do, he said, it will be the equivalent of the large injection of cash the McCain campaign is receiving from the government — about $70 million or $80 million.

“We’re confident that we will meet our financial goals, but it’s hard work,” Mr. Plouffe said. “We have a long way to go in the next six weeks.”

Members of Mr. Obama’s national finance committee were briefed during the convention in Denver by Mr. Plouffe. Penny Pritzker, the Obama finance chairwoman, announced new state-by-state fund-raising goals. The decidedly business-oriented nature of the meeting reflected the burden on the Obama campaign in the coming weeks.

“I think McCain made the right call,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who managed Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996. “The Republican National Committee is strong. They have the resources to make this race almost financially on par.”

McCain makes inroads
Democratic strategists disagree, pointing out that campaign finance rules impose serious restrictions on Mr. McCain’s ability to fully make use of his party’s bank account.

“It’s not just the limitation of dollars when you accept public financing, it’s the limitations that go with that spending,” said Tad Devine, a senior strategist for Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004. Mr. Devine added that choosing to accept public financing was the Kerry campaign’s single biggest mistake because it limited the campaign’s resources.

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The McCain campaign had by far its best fund-raising month ever in August, when it collected $47 million for its coffers and $22 million for the party, finishing the month with more than $100 million in the bank that will now be at the disposal of the R.N.C., according to several finance officials.

McCain fund-raisers said they also hope to raise an additional $100 million for the party in September and in October, taking advantage of the sizable contribution limits for the party. The party’s Internet fund-raising has also picked up significantly since the announcement that Ms. Palin would join the Republican ticket. Combined with the $84 million from public financing, that would leave the McCain campaign with about $300 million at its disposal.

A recent e-mail message to McCain fund-raisers unveiled new incentives to spur them in their final push. For the primary, anyone who raised $100,000 or more earned the title of Trailblazer, while those who raised $250,000 or more became Innovators. Now Trailblazers who raise another $100,000 for the party for the general election can become Super-Trailblazers, and Innovators who raise another $250,000 earn the title of Super-Innovators.