Wednesday, August 27 - All Was Forgiven and Repairing the World

Now we know how to nominate someone for President by acclamation.

You move to suspend the rules.

Halfway through the roll call of the states, that's the motion that Hillary Clinton made.

The "ayes" clearly had it.

A few hours later, the ovation that greeted Bill Clinton demonstrated that all was forgiven among Obama and Clinton supporters - at least within the Pepsi Center.

Clinton's speech made two points:

"Barack Obama is ready to be President."

"Last night, Hillary said she would do everything she can to elect Senator Obama. That makes two of us."

The former President then stated, "That makes 18 million of us."

Gaining the support of those 18 million, as well as millions of independent voters, will be crucial to the outcome of the election.

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"I'm in the tikkun olam (Hebrew for "repairing the world") business," stated United States Senator Ron Wyden.

He was not speaking from the podium at the convention. It was a panel discussion on "Practicing Politics With Jewish Values" that I attended this afternoon.

"I show up every morning and say, 'What can I do to make the world a better place?'"

Senator Wyden said that, but I could have too.

Sometimes the issues are big, such as embryonic stem cell research or the death penalty. Sometimes, the issues are small, getting the government to respond to a constituent's complaint.

But I'm always trying to make the world a better place for someone else.

Another panelist was Mike Levy, a friend since junior high school who worked for Lloyd Bentsen on Capitol Hill and at the Treasury Department.

"One of the greatest malicious gossip campaigns in history is being waged against Barack Obama," Mike stated.

Combatting these Karl Rovian/Swift Boat slanders will also be crucial to to the outcome of the election.