Kennedy: 'Dream lives on' with Obama campaign

DENVER -- Sen. Edward Kennedy made an emotional appearance here Monday before the Democratic National Convention, saying "nothing is going to keep me" from urging delegates "to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States."

Democrats gave the Massachusetts senator, 76 and under treatment for brain cancer, a long standing ovation after he walked gingerly to the podium to make the unscheduled address. They interrupted his appearance with chants of "Teddy! Teddy!" and cheered throughout the speech.

"So many of you have been with me in the happiest days and the hardest days. Together we have known success and seen setback, victory and defeat. But we have never lost our belief that we are called to a better country and a newer world," Kennedy said.

He called on Democrats to push for universal health care "as a fundamental right and not a privilege," and pledged "that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate."

"There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination — not merely victory for our party but renewal for our nation," Kennedy said. "The work begins anew. The hope rises again, and the dream lives on."

Convention officials didn't confirm until Monday that Kennedy would attend the tribute set for him on the convention's first night, and he was not on the schedule of speakers. His son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, said the senator did not decide until Monday to give the speech.

"So many people were calling and asking for him," Patrick Kennedy said."It was incredibly emotional."

The tribute was a highlight of the convention's first night, which will end with an address from Obama's wife, Michelle. She will portray a personal picture of her husband in her address, according to excerpts of her speech released by the Obama campaign.

"In the end, after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago," Michelle Obama, 44, will say, according to the excerpts.

"Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them," Michelle Obama is expected to say.

"And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the convention's first major speaker Monday, using her time to outline differences between Obama and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Pelosi outlined a series of issues that are defining the campaign, including the war in Iraq, health care and energy policy, saying each time, "Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong."

"The American people gave Democrats their confidence, and we have started to reclaim the American dream for all Americans," Pelosi said. "But our journey to take our nation in a new direction cannot be complete without new leadership in the White House."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean gaveled the convention into order earlier Monday, starting the events that are scheduled to culminate with Obama's nomination acceptance speech Thursday. Between now and then, speakers ranging from former presidents to top party officials to Obama's former top rival — Hillary Rodham Clinton — will get their turn at the podium.

Behind the scenes, Obama's representatives worked with Clinton's camp on a deal to give her some votes in the roll call for the nomination — but to then quickly end the process in a show of unanimous acclamation for Obama.

Some hard feelings remained. Pelosi acknowledged earlier Monday that Democrats "had not yet achieved the complete reconciliation that we need."

Clinton told her New York state delegation over breakfast Monday that it is time for Democrats to unite behind her former rival.

"Now I ask each and every one of you to work as hard for Barack and Joe Biden as you worked for me," she told crowd. She said it might "take some time" but added, "Let there be no mistake about it, we are united."

Other speakers Monday included former Iowa congressman Jim Leach, a Republican who has endorsed Obama. "In troubled times, it was understood that country comes before party," Leach told the crowd, saying the Republican Party had drifted away from its traditional values.

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, soon to be Obama's official running mate, arrived earlier Monday in Denver. He later appeared in the convention hall, talking to Democratic officials and delegates.

McCain was scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday. The Republicans open their own convention in one week in St. Paul.

The convention opens as a new poll shows a formidable challenge facing Democrats. Fewer than half of Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters in the presidential primaries say they definitely will vote for Obama in November, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

In the poll, taken Thursday through Saturday, 47% of Clinton supporters say they are solidly behind Obama, and 23% say they support him but may change their minds before the election.

Thirty percent say they will vote for McCain, someone else or no one at all.

Both campaigns also released new ads Monday.

The Obama ad features images of McCain hugging President Bush and the two smiling in spite of tidings of economic woe. It features a parody of the Sam Cooke classic Wonderful World, which starts off with the lyric, "Don't know much about history." For the ad, it's reworded to say "I'm not up on the economy," playing on McCain's earlier admission that economics wasn't his best subject.

McCain's campaign also released an ad to play on what it sees as a weakness for Obama: his lack of support among some Clinton backers. That ad features a Clinton supporter who now backs McCain assuring like-minded voters: "A lot of Democrats will vote McCain. It's OK, really!"

Contributing: Rick Hampson, Jill Lawrence, Susan Page, Richard Wolf, Kathy Kiely, Alan Gomez and Randy Lilleston in Denver; Associated Press