Edwards Plays Set-Up Man

CBSNews.com producer Jarrett Murphy is reporting from Boston this week.

All night, FleetCenter security, fire marshals, the Boston police and convention volunteers had struggled to clear the clogged aisles and landings inside the convention hall to prevent a hazardous crush of people. Speakers were routinely hard to hear above the chatter in the seats and walkways.

Hours before Edwards spoke, Rev. Al Sharpton replaced the chatter with roars of applause in a pounding address that enthralled the delegates.

But in Edwards' speech, the key points may not have been the lines that drew cheers but the passages that were heard in near total silence - the crowd almost leaning forward to hear Edwards as he spoke in a calm voice.

The silence came when Edwards talked about men and women who had lost limbs in the Iraq war. "They need their mother to tie their shoe, their husband to brush their hair, and their wife's arm to help them across the room."

Cheers broke the quiet when Edwards said, "They will never be left behind."

There was silence again as Edwards talked about a woman struggling to pay bills as her husband serves his country overseas. "She thinks she's alone. But tonight in this hall and in your homes - you know what? She's got a lot of friends," he said, to a surge of applause.

In the quiet moments Edwards seemed to make a connection with his audience. It also seemed they came prepared to connect with him. The crowd lavished applause on Edwards' familiar description of "Two Americas," and on the highlights of the North Carolina senator's biography, from his father who "worked in a mill all his life" to Edwards' work as a lawyer "fighting for the kind of people I grew up with."

Familiar Kerry-Edwards themes were also there.

Edwards stressed Kerry's military service and personal courage. He continued the Democrats' efforts to reclaim some "family values" territory from the GOP, mentioning the "v" word eight times.

He employed tough language on terrorism, warning al Qaeda: "We will destroy you."

And he maintained the emphasis on optimism, leading the crowd in the refrain, "hope is on the way."

But while deploring negative campaigning ("They are doing all they can to take this campaign for the highest office in the land down the lowest possible road"), Edwards launched several stingers at the Bush campaign, while avoiding any mention of the president's name.

Describing Kerry as "decisive" and "strong," Edwards asked: "Aren't these the traits you want in a commander-in-chief?"

He also said values should be based upon what a person has "spent their life doing."

"So when a man volunteers to serve his country, and puts his life on the line for others - that's a man who represents real American values," said Edwards.

Edwards painted in broad brush strokes. Among specific proposal were tax breaks for health care and for companies that keep jobs stateside, a Patients' Bill of Rights, and incentives for teachers who teach in needy schools. The new programs would be funded by rolling back tax breaks for the wealthiest two percent of Americans.

Raising the minimum wage, reforming intelligence and doubling the special forces were also there.

Delegates and guests were, as might be expected, pleased with the speech. And specifics were rarely what moved them.

"I think he defined it pretty well what America is all about at this particular time," said Howard Gilmore of Boston.

Terese Yewell of Washington, D.C. couldn't remember what the line was that moved her but it was about Kerry in Vietnam, and that, "that kind of patriotism and commitment is something the country needed now."

"His speech for tonight had to set the tone for tomorrow," said Mel Poindexter, a Massachusetts state Democratic worker. "He had to galvanize the group. He had to give them a sense of focus a sense of purpose and a thought walking out of this building tonight."

And, Poindexter said, he did it.

By Jarrett Murphy