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Sen. Hillary Clinton took the stage Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, urging party unity and reaching out to those still frustrated by her bruising loss against former rival Sen. Barack Obama.

"Whether you voted for me, or you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose," said Clinton. "We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines.

Clinton said anyone who supported her during her campaign for the Democratic nomination -- and anyone who backed her campaign for women's rights and universal health care -- should vote for Obama.

"I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches ... to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people," she said. "And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.

"No way, no how, no McCain.

"Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our president."

In praising Obama, Clinton went so far as to compare him to the last Democratic president -- her husband, Bill Clinton, who looked on from the audience.

"When Barack Obama is in the White House, he'll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time," she said.

"Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, we did it before with President Clinton and the Democrats. And if we do our part, we'll do it again with President Obama and the Democrats."

She then went on the attack against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, accusing him of being completely out of touch with the current issues facing U.S. voters.

"John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound," she said. "John McCain doesn't think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it's okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work."

'Stuck in the past'

During the course of the four-day convention, the Democrats hope to depict Obama as someone able to lead the U.S. into the future. John McCain, they say, will only hold the nation back.

"If he's the answer, then the question must be ridiculous," New York Gov. David Paterson said of McCain.

Tuesday's keynote speaker, former Virginia governor Mark Warner, called Obama the right man for president in his address, saying America can't compete in the 21st century with "a president who is stuck in the past."

"This race is all about the future and that's why we must elect Barack Obama," he said. "This election ... is about the future verses the past."

Warner condemned the Bush administration for being slow to rise to new economic and technological challenges, saying they had ""misguided policies and outdated thinking."

"John McCain promises more of the same," he added.

He praised Obama as a president who would improve the economy through innovation and education.

"In four months we will have an administration that actually believes in science," Warner said to applause.

Warner is running for the Senate and is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party after a successful run as governor is the normally Republican state.

United Democrats

Randy Bishop, the mayor of Neptune, New Jersey, supported Clinton in the primaries but told Â鶹ӰÊÓnet that he now backs Obama and expects the divided party will unify behind the Illinois senator.

"It's an emotional time for all delegates but in the end, when we leave this convention we will have a country that needs to get back on track," he said Tuesday from the convention. "We will unite behind Barack Obama."

Bishop said he was "hurt" when he learned that Clinton would not be the party's presidential nominee, but added that Obama shares the same values and concerns as he does.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday a behind-the-scenes deal was in the works that would reward Clinton for bringing her millions of backers into the Obama camp.

Under one possible scenario, some states would be allowed to cast votes for both Obama and Clinton in Wednesday's delegate voting. Then Clinton herself would cut off the balloting and call for the unanimous nomination of her formal rival.

However, Clinton conceded that some of her supporters feel an obligation to vote for her, and will probably do so no matter what.

She also said she wouldn't outright tell her supporters who to vote for -- though she did tell them she will be voting for Obama.

"We were not all on the same side as Democrats, but we are now," she said.

On the same day Clinton was slated to deliver her speech in Denver, Republicans released a new television ad that cited her past criticism of Obama's lack of experience. She quickly disavowed the ad, saying she did not approve of it.

Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton, is expected to deliver a speech on Wednesday night.

Michelle Obama's speech

On Monday night, Obama's wife Michelle helped open the four-day convention with her own keynote address. She attempted to portray her husband as a man Americans can relate to.

"He was raised by grandparents who were working-class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like mine did. And like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities that they never had themselves.

"And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values. Like you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do. And that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them."

Her comments were partly intended to counter Republican efforts to label Obama as "elitist."

"Michelle had one job ahead of her. She had to portray her husband Barack Obama as a hard working ordinary American citizen that Americans could believe in," ABC News' Diana Alvear told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.

"She hit a home run. She really kept it real, had personal stories to share, stories about bringing their daughter home from the hospital, stories about him talking to the community. It was her job to focus on him and she did a good job."

Former Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell also said Obama managed to portray herself as a good choice for first lady.

"She's smart, well educated, articulate, poised and I think she can go anywhere on behalf of Americans and I also think she'll be a solid base to enable her husband to withstand the pressures of that job," Campbell said from the convention.

"I think Americans will be very luck to have her in the White House if they elect Barack Obama as president. I think she's a clear winner as part of that team."

Kennedy's appearance

Despite having recently undergone brain surgery for cancer, Sen. Ted Kennedy made an appearance at the convention Monday evening, sending the party faithful into a frenzy.

"It is so wonderful to be here and nothing was going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight," Kennedy said, his voice strong and clear.

Despite his bleak prognosis, he said: "I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate."

Kennedy spoke out strongly in support of Barack Obama, comparing the presidential hopeful to his brother, slain U.S. president John F. Kennedy.

"We are told that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high principle and high endeavor," he said.

"But when John Kennedy thought of going to the moon he didn't say, 'It's too far to get there, we shouldn't even try.'"

"Today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon."