An icon shows how it’s done

IT IS only when the lights go out at the Pepsi convention centre that the real stars shine.

As soon as it darkens, thousands of giddy delegates rush through the doors, grab a personalised poster and squeeze shoulder to shoulder on the floor of the arena.

Each delegate a political junkie, craving a speech to savour or one of the catchphrases that can sparkle during American presidential campaigns.

But on a week when more than 300 speakers will address the Democratic convention, nothing will be savoured like the moment when a terminally ill political icon, Ted Kennedy, lit up Monday night’s proceedings.

Even cynical political veterans welled up as the last surviving Kennedy brother made a surprise appearance on stage to chants of “Teddy, Teddy”.

Defying his illness, he vowed to take his place in the Senate next January when Barack Obama becomes president.

For 40 years, Kennedy used his convention speeches to inspire the party. Those who saw him on Monday considered his last to be among his best.

For so long the brightest star in the Democratic Party he declared the torch had been passed to a new generation.

But if the proceedings in Denver revealed anything, it is how this torch rests solely in the hands of Obama — the Big Ticket.

Before the lights dimmed for Hillary Clinton and rising star Mark Warner, at least 60 other speakers approached the microphone.

These involved a litany of personal stories and emotional pleas familiar to the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Yesterday, the warm-up acts included the little known Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin and the mayor of Fairbanks Jim Whitaker.

One after another speakers take to the lonely stage to compete with the arena’s bustle as friends from various delegations mingle with the centre’s full lights on.

The speakers do not stray from the script and when their time is up they are yanked off stage and released back into their small ponds.

Then the room darkens, ears tune in and the heavyweights take over.

These are the moments that brought the crowd to see Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama on Monday and Clinton and Warner last night.

Tonight it will be the turn of former president Bill Clinton and Barack Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden.

But regardless of what either Biden or Clinton produces, few occasions with linger with the delegates like Monday.

With an eloquent account of her marriage to Barack, Michelle Obama sent the faithful to their beds with the message: “Stop doubting and start dreaming”.

And this while they still were clutching a dear Teddy close to their hearts.