Obama to accept Democratic nomination
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Speech today: Barack Obama with running mate Joe Biden at the conference yesterday (Reuters: Chris Wattie)
Barack Obama will claim his place in history today as the first African-American US presidential nominee of a major political party.
Senator Obama will formally accept the Democratic Party's nomination to run for the White House before 75,000 people in a Denver football stadium.
Taking place on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, Senator Obama's address also has historic echoes of John F Kennedy's 1960 acceptance speech in an open-air stadium.
Fireworks will explode after Senator Obama's closing words, setting the stage for the 47-year-old to face an election showdown with Republican John McCain.
Republicans will hold their own convention next week to nominate the 71-year-old Vietnam War veteran Senator McCain.
Yesterday, Senator Obama's nomination was roundly endorsed by former rival Hillary Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton.
Mr Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe says things could not be going better.
"I think both Senator Clinton and president Clinton gave both compelling endorsements of Barack Obama, but more importantly laid out the choice in this election," he said.
"I think that for anyone watching - and there's been a lot of people watching - there's no question about who they believe would be the stronger commander-in-chief and the person best to get our economy back on track.
"We think these three nights have been very important and couldn't have gone better."
Mr Plouffe says Senator Obama's speech will focus on his vision for the country's future.
"I think Barack Obama's going to tell the American people tonight clearly the challenges we face and where he's going to lead the country," he said.
"The truth is over the last six years, John McCain's gotten an awful lot wrong as relates to our foreign policy, and Barack Obama's judgement has been dead-on right."
Senator Obama will take the stage at about midday AEST.
- ABC/Agencies
