Obama uses speech to fire up supporters

President Barack Obama pronounced himself eager to go before the Democratic National Convention and the nation to share his vision for the future in a speech designed not just to persuade undecided voters but to put fire in the belly of his supporters.

“I’m looking forward to laying out what’s at stake in this election,” Obama said in a conference call to his supporters yesterday.

After a rousing warm-up act from former president Bill Clinton on Wednesday, delegates were keen to see some spirit from Obama.

“His job is about passion,” said Minnesota delegate Roxanne Mindeman. “He’s preaching to the choir, but he needs the choir to be motivated.”

Obama insisted there was no excitement deficit for his re-election bid, even if it lacks some of the verve that surrounded his historic election campaign in 2008.

“There’s plenty of enthusiasm out there. The issue in this election is not going to be enthusiasm.”

In the lead-up to Obama’s big speech, senior adviser David Plouffe cautioned that no one should expect the president to slingshot out of the convention with a huge boost in polls that have long signalled a close race.

“You’re not going to see big bounces in this election,” said Plouffe. “For the next 61 days, it’s going to remain tight as a tick.”

Republican nominee Mitt Romney said he didn’t plan to watch Obama’s address, but he weighed in from New England with some free speechmaking advice.

“What I’d like him to do is report on his promises, but there are forgotten promises and forgotten people. Over the last four years, the president has said he was going to create jobs for the American people and that hasn’t happened.”

Citing a chance of thunderstorms, convention organisers scrapped plans for Obama to speak to an enormous crowd in a 74,000-seat outdoor stadium and decided to shoehorn the event into the convention arena, which accommodates 15,000. By late afternoon, a thunderstorm had popped up over the convention site, and the National Weather Service had issued a lightning advisory for the Charlotte airport.

In an election in which the economy is the top issue for voters, the president got some encouraging news from new reports that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 last week.