Biden seeking party, national unity in convention climax

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden is hoping to start unifying divided America as well as the nation's diverse Democrats Thursday night as he accepts his party's presidential nomination in the climax of recent history's most unorthodox national convention.

For Biden, it's also a moment that marks the pinnacle — so far — of a political career spanning almost a half century.

The former vice president, who at 77 years old would be the oldest president ever elected, will be feted by family and former foes as he becomes the Democratic Party's official standard bearer in the campaign to defeat President Donald Trump in November.

A day after California Sen. Kamala Harris became the first Black woman to accept a major party's vice presidential nomination, Biden campaign co-chair Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Delaware congresswoman, predicted that Thursday would be “a whole 'nother level of special."

Above all, Biden is expected to focus on uniting the deeply divided nation as Americans grapple with the long and fearful health crisis, the related economic devastation and a national awakening on racial justice.

“I knew that of all the incredible candidates we have across that platform, Joe Biden was the one who could unite us. From Harlem to the heartland, he was the one who could unite us,” Blunt Rochester said in a briefing previewing the final night of the four-day convention.

The positive focus expected Thursday night marks a break from the dire warnings offered by former President Barack Obama and others the night before. The 44th president of the United States warned that American democracy itself could falter if Trump is reelected, while Harris and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton declared that Americans' lives and livelihoods are at risk.

Throughout their convention, the Democrats have summoned a...