Democrats pick Obama

DENVER (AP) - Barack Obama stands before delegates and the nation today - the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech - to accept the Democratic presidential nomination, the first black man to claim such a prize.

The drama of his long, emotional primary struggle against Hillary Rodham Clinton behind him at last, Obama's long-awaited convention speech will propel him into a tough sprint to Election Day, a mere nine weeks away.

Obama's march into history will be coupled with a modern-day technological effort to get most of the 75,000 packed into Invesco Field at Mile High stadium to form the world's largest phone bank - text-messaging thousands more to boost voter registration for the fall.

Any edge is imperative as polls show a close race between Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the bid to become the nation's 44th president, succeeding George W. Bush.

Obama accepts his party's nod on a day few could ever imagine decades ago, when King fought for civil rights.

"This is a monumental moment in our nation's history," Martin Luther King III, the civil rights icon's oldest son, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "And it becomes obviously an even greater moment in November if he's elected."