Hopes Clinton speech will lift Obama

Bill Clinton took centre stage at the Democratic National Convention as President Barack Obama’s nomination is placed before a party hoping that the last president to preside over sustained growth can help propel him to re-election in a sputtering economy.

The former president’s speech was a high point in a checkered relationship between two men who sparred, sometimes sharply, in the 2008 primaries, when Clinton was supporting wife Hillary’s campaign for the nomination.

If day two of the Democrats’ convention was all about grabbing some of Clinton’s lustre, opening day was designed to portray Obama as someone who understands the problems of ordinary people.