USA Democrats open convention with optimism 26/08/08 07:55 CET

Heavyweights of the US Democratic Party have lined up at the convention to say Barack Obama could bring about the change America needs.

US Senator Edward Kennedy delivered a speech, nearly three months after undergoing brain surgery.

Doctors reportedly feared his attendance could cause a relapse. But the brother of slain President John F Kennedy said nothing was going to keep him away.

“For me this is a season of hope – hope for a justice and prosperity for many and not just for the few – new hope and this is the cause of my life,” he said.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi went after the Republican Presidential candidate John McCain.

Discussing issues from the economy to energy, she said on each that “Barack Obama is right and John McCain wrong.”

“Republicans say that John McCain has experience. We say that John McCain has experience of being wrong,” said Pelosi.

Former US President Jimmy Carter also paid tribute to Barack Obama in a videotape aired at the convention, focussing on Carter’s work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

He spoke of Obama’s religious faith and humble background. A superdelegate himself, Carter has also endorsed Obama.