WASHINGTON • US Democrats have formally nominated Mr Joe Biden for the presidency, anointing him as their standard-bearer against President Donald Trump.
This followed an extraordinary virtual roll call vote that showcased the cultural diversity of their coalition and exposed a generational gulf that is increasingly defining the party.
Denied the chance to assemble in Milwaukee because of the coronavirus pandemic, Democratic activists and dignitaries on Tuesday night cast their votes from locations across the nation.
Appearing with his wife in a Delaware school after his home state put him over the top, Mr Biden was feted by his grandchildren, who wore T-shirts bearing the words "No Malarkey" - one of his favourite phrases.
"See you on Thursday," he said, speaking briefly to thank the delegates and referring to the day he will formally accept the nomination.
The second night of the Democratic National Convention straddled themes of national security, presidential accountability and continuity between the party's past and future leaders.
Two tributes by Republicans carried symbolic weight for a Democratic candidate seeking to appeal across party lines: Mr Colin Powell, retired general and former secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, and Mrs Cindy McCain, widow of Senator John McCain.
By voting to nominate Mr Biden, 77, Democrats delivered to the former vice-president a prize he had pursued intermittently for three decades. Two previous presidential campaigns, in 1988 and 2008, had ended in abrupt defeat.
Mr Biden's long-awaited victory is a triumph of personal and political endurance, representing the apex - so far - of a slow upward climb by a man who entered the US Senate in 1972 at age 30 as a grieving single father.
Much of Tuesday's programme was dominated by some of the most familiar faces from the Democratic Party's past, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
Replacing the traditional keynote address, a group of younger officials whom the Democrats hope to cultivate as leaders of the future delivered an oratorical collage.
The party returned again and again to a few core policy themes.
One segment showed Mr Biden conferring with voters about the cost of healthcare, a subject he vowed to take on. Other Democrats stressed the urgency of confronting gun violence and climate change, and several called for restoring the United States' assertive role in foreign policy.
Former second lady Jill Biden occupied the most prominent speaking slot of the night. She described the uneasy mood gripping American families and said she shared it: "Like so many of you, I'm left asking: How do I keep my family safe?"
"There are those who want to tell us that our country is hopelessly divided, that our differences are irreconcilable," Mrs Biden said, insisting that she took a different view.
"We have shown that the heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage. That's the soul of America Joe Biden is fighting for now."
The roll call vote - a convention tradition - gave Mr Biden his long-sought prize.
The presentation read as a state-by-state catalogue of many of the most dangerous problems facing the country, as local activists and elected leaders detailed their own experiences with Trump-era crises as they cast their delegate votes.
Casting Florida's votes for Mr Biden, Mr Fred Guttenberg, the father of a young student slain in the Parkland school shooting, recalled Mr Biden's phone call to him after the tragedy and predicted that once in office, Mr Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris would vanquish the National Rifle Association.
BLOOMBERG
