DENVER (AP) - Democrats opened their national convention on
Monday, seeking peace in the family as they pursue victory in the
fall for Barack Obama and his historic quest for the White House.

An appearance by the ailing, aging Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of
Massachusetts and a primetime speech by Obama's wife, Michelle,
headlined the convention's first night.

Yet the opening gavel fell with Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton
still struggling to work out the choreography for the formal roll
call of the states that will make him - a 47-year-old senator
bidding to become the first black president - the party nominee.

"There is no doubt in anyone's mind that this is Barack Obama's
convention," the former first lady told reporters. And yet, she
said, some of her delegates "feel an obligation to the people who
sent them here" and would vote for her.

As the delegates took their seats in the Pepsi Center, Obama
campaigned in Iowa, the first in a string of swing states he is
visiting en route to Colorado.

He arranged to watch his wife's speech on television later from Kansas City, then speak briefly to the convention via a huge TV screen.

Public opinion polls made the race with Republican John McCain a
close one, unexpectedly so given a widespread desire for change in
an era of economic uncertainty, continuing conflict in Iraq and
poor approval ratings for GOP President Bush.

Obama delivers his acceptance speech on Thursday at a football
stadium, before a crowd likely to total 75,000 or more.

Then he and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, his vice presidential running mate, depart for the fall campaign.

If the opening night's convention program had a feel-good quality, not so the intensifying campaign outside the hall.

Obama shipped a new commercial that used humor to depict McCain
as an extension of the Bush administration, the latest in a series
of negative advertisements by both sides.

"Really can't explain the price of gas, or what has happened to
the middle class," the announcer sings to the tune of Sam Cooke's
"Wonderful World."

With McCain and Bush appearing together on the screen, the announcer says, "Do we really want four more years of the same old tune?"

While the White House is the biggest prize of the election year,
prominent Democrats expressed optimism in Associated Press
interviews about major gains in the fall in races for the House and
Senate.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said 70 or more House seats are
competitive, the majority of them currently in Republican hands.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said fashioning a 60-seat, filibuster-proof Senate majority was a stretch. But he added that Democrats lead for five seats currently in Republican hands, and several others are competitive.

Howard Dean, the party chairman, rapped the opening gavel
precisely on schedule at 3 p.m. Mountain Time - before only a
smattering of delegates.

"We are ready to compete in all 50 states in November," he said, even though Obama has already written off large portions of the South and Mountain West.

Schumer and Van Hollen said only a small fraction of Clinton's
delegates remained unreconciled to Obama's triumph in the bruising
primaries of the winter and spring.

Perhaps so, but they were vocal about it, and officials said one
of the issues under discussion was whether to permit a noisy floor
demonstration by Clinton's supporters when the former first lady's
name is placed in nomination on Wednesday night.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest child of the late Robert
F. Kennedy and a former lieutenant governor of Maryland, said the
animosity that some Clinton delegates feel toward Obama is
worsening. "There's a moment that you want to enjoy your
bitterness," she said, although she emphasized that she is
supporting Obama.

Another Maryland delegate, Mary Boergers said she didn't care
what Clinton's wishes were about whom to support on a roll call.

"To try to suppress the celebration that we all want to have about
her achievements is what would tear this party apart," she said.

Boergers, a lifelong Democrat, added she is unsure whether she
will vote for Obama in November.

Obama told reporters that his former rival and her husband,
former President Bill Clinton, "couldn't have been more clear" in
their support for his candidacy.
But the sniping was impossible to miss.
"I'm getting a lot of calls and e-mails, especially from women,
who are quite upset that she was not vetted (for vice president)
even though senator Obama said she was on the short list," said
Lanny Davis, a longtime Clinton loyalist.
All the talk about disunity was grating on some.
"To stay wallowing in all of this is not productive," said
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.

"So we can talk about this forever, or we can talk about how
we're going to take our message to the American people, to women
all across America, to see the distinctions" between Obama and
McCain.

Obama's campaign set that as one of the principal goals of the
convention week.

"Obama's major challenge at this convention is to focus on the
middle class, to show empathy because he had to climb his way up,"
to demonstrate he has plans to remedy their concerns and the
ability to get things done in Washington, Schumer said.

But first came the tribute to Kennedy, now 76 and battling brain
cancer. After flying to Denver, he was expected to be in the hall
for the video tribute, although Democrats insisted they did not
know if he would speak.

Even so, his presence "gives everyone a big lift," Schumer
said of the last surviving brother of the late President John F.
Kennedy and a party icon across more than four decades in the
Senate.

Kennedy's decision to endorse Obama in the early days of the
primary campaign was a turning point, not only because it was a
ceremonial passing of the torch but also because of his ability to
serve as a political reference of sorts for Hispanics, union
workers and others.

Obama's wife, accompanied by their two children, made a
midmorning visit to the convention hall to familiarize herself with
the podium.

The campaign said her speech would present a personal view of
her husband, and "talk about their life together, and building a
family grounded in faith and values."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)