There was some worry that after a four hour program, which despite the excitement did have its duller moments, the crowd might be worn out with the anticipation and only mildly enthused when Obama finally took the stage.

There was nothing to worry about. The moment delivered on the hype and then some. But objectively, it was the presence and spectacle of it all that carried more emotion than the speech itself. Which is not to criticize the speech, just to recognize the impact of the collective energy of 85,000 souls - men, women, children - who had made a pilgrimage of sorts to the coming of a new America.

Obama’s statement that the moment ” is not about me, it’s about you” was entirely on target, even it it was the politically expedient thing to say. I got a crop of e-mails as Obama was speaking asking me for my feelings, I would have to say that above all there was within the stadium a universal feeling of crossing a bridge after a long and painful journey. We were not quite home yet, but everyone seemed to sense that we were a lot closer than we’ve ever been.

Does it sound like cheerleading to say the speech was a spiritual moment? Again, not the words but “the moment” of it all. Similar to the day Mandela was released from prison, there was in the air a palpable aura of imminent change for America. Whether Obama is the change or the just the catalyst the sparks one is yet to be seen. But if you turned around from watching Obama and looked deeply into the audience, you quickly realized that the change we are all looking for had happened in the stands long before Obama came on stage.

The question facing us is do we all require an Obama to lead us there, or are we brave enough to make the changes ourselves? We are the change we seek, indeed.

Sam Donaldson appreciates the joys of a production truck and electrical backup.

If you’ve been paying attention you may have noticed a slight change in tone in my posts from a live blogging present tense to the past tense. That because right about at this moment in the program - BANG - no power in almost all of my battery-driven gear, which was nearly everything.

Despite an meticulously planned event, the logistics people neglected to do one important thing - provide outlets to writers on the field, or do a row of press seats directly off the field in the seats with power lines attached. The television camera you saw all around were drawing power pulled from inside the arena and were connected to satellite trucks outside. Everybody else? Completely at the mercy of the limitations of battery life in our various technological gadgetry. For me, the flat out worst thing could have happened, my Mac laptop went dead with a full charge after maybe 45 minutes tops. This from a computer that brags about 3 hours of battery life.

Apparently this happened to many people - press and otherwise. Some speculate that with 85,000 people, nearly all using some sort of electrical device, plus 12,000 members of the press plugged in to something, that there was a serious power drain happening. Maybe, maybe not, I just know that was the killer for me.

There were accommodations for writing press inside the arena - a way too small and completely full press filing center near the Broncos locker rooms, and some tables in the basement hallway that were reserved for Getty Images, Reuters, Fox News and the other wire services.

Unlike Pepsi Center, the press boxes at Invesco were in what are normally the sports writer booths next to the skyboxes. The problem was that it was accessible only by a single elevator that took too much time. and it was enclosed in glass. That was an option if you were okay just being and observer, but the real action, the real emotion and the people who could answer questions were down on the field. There was no way I was leaving that kind of excitement to sit in a booth to live blog - especially since so many people - 38 million by some reports - were watching on television.

I’m vain, but not so vain to imagine that people were going to switch off the TV and watch me follow it by blog. So every post beyond this point has the perspective of a few hours for all of it to sink in, which is probably better anyway.

Kudos to Canon - my camera outlasted every device. And as much as I hate it otherwise, my corporate Palm Treo held out all night as well. The JVC HD hard drive video camera died with 3 minutes to go in Barack’s speech. Three freaking minutes. Thanks for nothing, JVC.

All I have to say to Steve Jobs and the people at Apple is, I love your stuff, but Dude, stop with the phones and focus on the battery thing - NOW. I’d settle for solar power and a hand crank at this point.

And of course, tickets and credentials are being peddled like crack on a street corner. One wrinkle for a number of press people and guests is that the credentials that got you into the various spaces and perimeters in the Pepsi Center apply to Invesco Field. Which sounds fine except that it’s a completely different arena with a whole different setup.

Those of us carrying CAMERA STAND passes for example, were hobbled greatly last night when the security crackdown stemming from Obama being in the building limited our mobility to a stand that was next to the podium, but 80% of that stand was out of the site lines of the speakers.

This time around, however, barring being a delegate, CAMERA STAND is platinum with everything else paling in comparison. We have direct sitelines on a platform right behind the first row of delegates in the Ohio and Illinois delegation, who have prime seating because of their significance in both the primary and general elections.

At hot bistro, ALTO in the Larimer Historic District, Senate candidate and DNC keynoter Mark Warner threw a reception that in a matter of mere minutes packed completely full. According to staffer Craig Kirby, the plan was for an intimate 200 key supporters. Nevertheless, 1500 people RSVP’d

That left leading political and financial lights like Rep. Jim Moran, former DNC chair Chuck Manatt and millionaire hotel developer R. Donahue Peebles standing either in the 90 degree heat waiting on cue to get in or held in a secondary room where Warner decidely was not.

I got in, though.

But such is the phenomenal popularity of the former governor who has built a loyal core of supporters who  would follow him over a hill if asked. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Joe Biden’s foreign policy experience aside, had Mark Warner nto been running for Senate, he would have been the VP pick.