HOWZAT

Mrs Obama pointed out that today - when the convention will be given over to Mrs Clinton - is the 88th anniversary of US women winning the right to vote, and that Thursday will be the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.

"I stand here today at the cross currents of that history – knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad [who suffered from multiple sclerosis] to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work.

"The same conviction that drives the men and women I've met all across this country: people who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift – without disappointment, without regret – that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they're working for."

She added, to one of the greatest cheers of the night and in reference to the 18 million votes Mrs Clinton received in the primary battle against her husband: "People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters – and sons – can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher."

'Blue collar' Barack is like you, wife tells America

Michelle Obama gave a passionate speech about their life together, and also tried to win over former Clinton backers

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She added: "And 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. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love."

Mr Obama's Kenyan father left his white, Kansan mother when he was two.

David Gergen, an adviser to both Republican and Democratic presidents, said: "For all the wonderful speeches he gives, this was more emotionally connective. You could not possible accuse her of elitism after this speech. It was a very deft speech."

Ed Rollins, a veteran Republican strategist, said: "She is not a liability. She is an asset. But what still has to be asked this week is: is he qualified to be president?"

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