PHILADELPHIA // Hillary Clinton has made history by becoming the first woman to win a major US political party’s White House nomination.
Loud cheers erupted as Mrs Clinton passed the 2,382-delegate threshold needed for the nomination on Tuesday night, setting up a November showdown with Republican Donald Trump.
Although the nomination outcome was a foregone conclusion, the official state-by-state vote saw rowdy displays on the floor of the Democratic National Convention.
A handful of diehard Bernie Sanders delegates fumed over their candidate’s defeat, but they were drowned out by ecstatic Clinton supporters. Several wept and embraced.
Mr Sanders took the floor in a bid to unify the party, drawing deafening cheers and a chorus of “ayes” when he called for Mrs Clinton to be “selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States”.
Delegates thrust placards in the air, forming a mosaic of Hs across the arena.
Hours later, another historical moment greeted Mrs Clinton and her husband, when the former president took the stage to make the case that his wife was the compassionate and capable change catalyst America needed.
“She always wants to move the ball forward. That is just who she is,” Bill Clinton said of his wife, keeping an audience of thousands of delegates rapt throughout his 45-minute speech, which marked the convention’s halfway point.
“For this time, Hillary is uniquely qualified to seize the opportunities and reduce the risks we face, and she is still the best darn change-maker I have ever known.”
Mrs Clinton made a stunning appearance by video after her husband’s speech, with an image comprised of the faces of former presidents, all men, shattering like glass to show the nominee.
“What an incredible honour that you have given me,” she said to roars from the crowd.
“This is really your victory,” she added. “And if there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say, I may become the first woman president but one of you is next.”
Mr Clinton, a Democratic icon, reminded the audience why he is still considered such a spellbinding speaker as he sought to transform how Americans see his wife.
While he made a forceful case for Mrs Clinton as president, his speech was heartfelt, exposing the personal side of a woman most adult Americans have known for a quarter of a century.
“In the spring of 1971, I met a girl,” Mr Clinton began as he warmly recalled their budding romance and his “awe” at his wife’s intelligence, strength and persistence in doing public good.
He alluded to Mrs Clinton’s election rival, although not by name, by pointing to some of Mr Trump’s more controversial policy positions, including his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
“If you’re a Muslim and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay here and help us win and make a future together,” Mr Clinton said to huge applause.
“We want you.”
* Agence France-Presse
