US Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama and his running mate Senator Joe Biden applaud as Senator Hillary Clinton is shown on the screen at the Democratic National Convention at the Pepsi Centre in Denver on Wednesday. Democrats made history, installing Barack Obama as the first black presidential nominee of a major US party. Photo: AFP

Barack Obama was unveiling a delicate balancing act yesterday, trying to get personal with 75,000 supporters in a massive stadium and millions more at home while explaining how as president he would make a difference in their lives.
The sweep of history could be overwhelming in itself: The previous evening Obama became the first black man to be a major political party's presidential candidate, his acceptance of the Democratic nomination coming on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
Still, Obama planned to talk about problems facing Americans today, from health care and education to international threats, campaign manager David Plouffe said Thursday.
"I think what Sen. Obama wants to do is make sure everyone watching at home is going to have a clear sense of where he wants to take the country, that we're on the wrong path and Barack Obama is going to put us back on the right track both here at home and overseas," Plouffe told ABC's "Good Morning America."
John McCain, Obama's Republican rival, offered mild criticism ahead of Obama's speech, saying Thursday that he admires and respects Obama but "I don't think he's right for America."
"I think I'm more in touch with the American people as far as my policies, my proposals and my ideas," McCain told KDKA News Radio in Pittsburgh.
Other Republicans, keeping up a theme they first used when Obama drew tens of thousands for an appearance in Berlin, derided the acceptance speech's stage at Invesco Field at Mile High as befitting a celebrity with little actual accomplishment.
"This Roman-like facade, a facade with Roman columns, is a perfect metaphor or icon for the point that it's an interesting production, but behind it there's not much there," Minnesota Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty told ABC.
"My goodness, it's amazing that we're three days into the Democratic convention and 60 or so days from the actual election and they're still trying to plead with the American people and convince us that Barack Obama is ready to be president," said Pawlenty, who is widely thought to be a finalist for McCain's running mate. "The fact of the matter, he is not."
The drama of his long, emotional primary struggle against Hillary Rodham Clinton behind him at last, Obama's convention speech will propel him into a tough sprint to Election Day.
A modern-day technological effort was under way to get most of those packed into the stadium to form the world's largest phone bank text-messaging thousands more to boost voter registration for the fall.
Obama accepts his party's nod on a day few could ever imagine decades ago, when King fought for civil rights.