4:50 p.m. Motion carries. It’s official: Obama is the Democrats’ presidential nominee. “Love Train” blares over the loudspeakers.

4:47 p.m. Illinois yields to New York, which is allowed to put Obama over the top for the nomination. Sen. Hillary Clinton moves that Obama be declared the nominee by acclamation. “In the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory …”

4 p.m. Delegates from Colorado, “from the snow-capped, majestic Rocky Mountain peaks …,” cast 55 votes for Obama and 15 votes for Clinton.

3:37 p.m. Sen. Ken Salazar, wearing a cowboy hat and bolo tie, seconds Obama nomination. “The White House has turned its back on you. … the rural America I know has become the forgotten America. … We can’t afford four more years of forgetting the middle class. … We can’t afford four more years of Bush policies.”

3:32 p.m. Republican from Tennessee, an Iraq veteran, begins delivering speech putting Obama’s name into nomination.”America needs a president … who respects their veterans when they get back home. … America needs new leadership in the White House, and that leader is Barack Obama.”

3:07 p.m. Secret Service says there’s a 15-20 minute wait to pass through security and get into Pepsi Center. Sun is beating down. Delegates shading heads with newspapers.

3:02 Just passed Al Sharpton walking away from Pepsi Center.

2:50 Sen. John Kerry just walked onto the floor of the Pepsi Center to shake some hands. The convention hall is filling up earlier than usual today in anticipation of the roll call vote — a vote that could be contentious, depending on the reaction of Hillary Clinton delegates.

2:45 p.m. Clinton finally leaves room, more than half hour after she spoke. Officials say we had 4,000 people in this room. No wonder Clinton joked earler: “If I had known I had THIS many delegates …”

2:37 p.m. Clinton is STILL shaking hands and signing autographs. She — and the delegates — just won’t leave the hall.

2:26 p.m. Hillary excerpts:

Clinton said she was “inspired and humbled” by the support of her delegates.

“This has been a joy. We didn’t make it, but boy we had a good time trying.”

Later: “I’m here today to release you, my delegates.”

“No!” some in the crowd said. Some booed.

She then reminded the delegates that later today, her name would be placed in nomination, along with Obama’s.

She said some delegates would vote for Obama for the sake of party unity. She said some would vote their conscience, and some felt obligated to vote for Hillary because that’s what they had been sent to Denver to do.

“I am not telling you what to do because you come here from so many places. … I signed my ballot this morning for Senator Obama.”

She said that what’s important is that the convention will nominate Obama.

“Elections are not just about the candidates. They’re about all of you!”

“We have an election to wage and an election to win!”

“We will leave Denver united. We got here by different paths. … my goal is that we win in November. … We’ve got to win in November.”

Then, to cheers, she parted with: “Thank you for your support! Thank you for your confidence.”

She stayed in the hall for several minutes shaking the hands of her delegates.

 

2:12 p.m. Hillary thanks delegates, drowned out by cheers and leaves podium to sound of Tom Petty’s “American Girl.” Speech excerpts upcoming.

2:10 p.m. Hillary: Tthis has been a joy. We didn’t make it, but, boy, we had a good time trying.”

2 p.m. Hillary begins speaking. Crowd chanting.

1:53 p.m. Crowd: “Hillary Hillary!” Another pantsuit, turquoise I suppose

1:50 p.m. Hillary takes stage. Crowd goes wild.

1:46 p.m. Jesse Jackson Jr. is walking into Pepsi Center.

1:43 p.m. Music: “Ain’t no mountain high enough.” She will speak at a lectern with a banner that says: “Change we can believe in”

1:40 p.m. More waiting for Hillary! Crowd starts clapping, then it trails off. Getting hot and stuffy in here. Someone holds a Guam flag aloft. Lots of Hillary hats, buttons and signs.

1:35 p.m. Crowd elbow to elbow in hall. More chanting.

1:30 p.m. Lights go dim. Crowd: “Hillary! Hillary!”

1:18 p.m. Just got into The Event of the hour. Hillary is planning to speak to her delegates and release them to Obama. Thousands are lined up inside Conv Center waiting to get in. Looks like this is one Hillary event she won’t skip!

1 p.m. Overheard on downtown street: woman 1: Hillary is gonna be Obama’s VP. Woman 2: No, she’s not. Woman 1: Shes not running for that no more? Oh boy!

12:11 p.m. Nancy Pelosi signing books in Conv Center. Big crowd.

Noon Gazette photgrapher Christian Murdock sees Katie Couric of CBS News giving an interview to a Hawaiian TV station. She fumbles as she tries to flash the hang-10 sign. Looks like she’s having fun.

11:52 a.m. Tom Udall, Mark’s cousin from New Mexico and a fellow Senate candidate, is speaking. “As the Udall from the south, … our slogan is ‘Vote for the Udall nearest you.'” More laughs.

“What we need in the West and in this country is a policy that does it all. Of course we have to drill.” He also spoke in favor of nuclear power, but he emphasized renewables and conservation.

11:45 a.m. Mark Udall: Says a woman stopped him on the street and told him he wasn’t as ugly in person as he is on TV. Room laughs.”It’s time for an energy revolution. We need a comprehensive approach. … Yes we need to drill more. But we need to do all of the other energy things that are in front of us.” … “We’re going to revitalize rural America.

11:44 a.m. From Gazette reporter Bill Reed: PUMA PAC — Party Unity My Ass — folks are still on the 16th Street Mall protesting, even after Hillary Clinton’s call for unity in the party. But there are only five of them now, and they’re catching flak from the passersby. One woman said: “Come on ladies, do you really want John McCain to win?”Sign of the day: A single young man is walking down 16th with a huge sign that says: “Recreate ’68…Vote for Nixon.”

11:40 a.m. Schumer: “This could be a sea-change election for the United States Senate.”

Schumer said Democrats feel confident about their incumbents and said the crop of Democratic candidates they’ve recruited this year are leading in several states. Schumer and Reid predicted the Democrats would pick up additional Senate seats in November.

11:35 a.m. Schumer: “We have lots of good news as we recruit.” He praised the quality of the candidates the Dems have fielded for Senate this year. “They care about America.” “The desire for change is deep. It’s not just at the presidential level. It’s way down deep.”

11:35 a.m. Reid: “We understand the slimness of our majority.” “The Republicans have been in a snit for at least 23 months.” He’s complaining about all of the Republican fillibusters.”We know we need more numbers. The wind is at our backs.”

“We are doing extremely well. … we don’t have a worry in the world.” At that point, Schumer knocked on the wood on the lectern.

11:32 a.m. Reid begins to speak.

11:28 a.m. Here we go again, the hurry-up-and-wait. The senators are running late. One aggravated reporter fled to go hear Michelle Obama speaking in another room. Think I’ll stick it out here a bit longer. They swear senators will be here eventually. Don’t need a repeat of yesterday’s no-show Hillary show.

11:20 a.m. From Gazette reporter Bill Reed: Maybe it’s really the iVote generation. That was the T-shirt on a young man walking north on Glenarm, and matches predictions of record turnout for under-30 voters.Also, the Colorado delegation has been told to show up at the convention hall early today to make sure they’re present for the roll call vote. Party officials still fear shenanigans from Hillary supporters. It might get interesting over there by 4 p.m.

11:20 a.m. Taking a break from the sidewalk/T-shirt/celebrity beat and ducking into Convention Center for news conference by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Now waiting for Sens. Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, Rep. Mark Udall and others to speak.

11:02 a.m. Gazette photographer Christian Murdock spots Biff Henderson from Letterman entering Pepsi Center.

10:55 a.m. Scene outside Convention Center: women with signs that say: “Legalizacion Si. Deportacion No.” Nearby, man in red-white-blue hat sells campaign buttons, earrings and flashing novelties.

10:45 a.m. I hear Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens spoke to the New Mexico delegates about wind energy over at the Crowne Plaza. And forecasters are saying the weather should be good for Obama’s speech tomorrow night at Invesco.

10:30 a.m. Not just Dems. Conservative correspondent Tucker Carlson of MSNBC was among those circulating at Earl’s.

10:18 a.m. California Street scene: guy selling T-shirts with image of Martin Luther King shaking hands with a smiling Obama. “Dreams do come true,” shirt reads.

10:15 a.m. 16th Street scene: cops in riot gear, sitting on shady benches drinking Starbucks.

10 a.m. Someone just crashed into me lunging for coffee. I’m getting out of here before I get scalded!

9:54 a.m. I see Angela again but no Annette. This at least beats yesterday’s fruitless wait for Hillary. The film is “14 Women” about the 14 women senators.

9:52 a.m. I’m in. Gazette business card scores a credential. Almost worse in here than sidewalk. Packed.

9:50 a.m. I’m trapped amid crush of photographers

9:47 a.m. Sidewalk overflowing outside Earl’s. Annette Bening is inside.

9:32 a.m. Angela Bassett is at Earl’s on 16th Street Mall. She’s attending a Creative Coalition event.

9:30 a.m. They’re sweeping and powerwashing the 16th Street Mall again. Too bad they couldn’t make this kind of effort every day!

9 a.m. What you aren’t seeing on TV: The Gazette desk at the Pepsi Center sits just to the right of the podium as you face the speakers (if you watch NBC’s Ann Curry or CBS News’ Bob Schieffer, you might see us in the background). We actually can’t see the speakers ourselves from those seats — we have to walk to the aisle for a peek, but we have had a great view of Curry, Schieffer and CNN’s Candy Crowley. Occasionally, the speakers come our way as they leave the stage. Former President Jimmy Carter bounded up the stairs next to us last night. New York’s Gov. David Paterson had no trouble navigating the stairs, despite being legally blind. (Just one question: Why did they scroll his speech on a TelePrompter while he spoke?)Curry has been impressive, out-interviewing Schieffer by at least 5-to-1, typing at her laptop and even snapping some photos of the crowd below. Schieffer, who plans to retire as anchor of “Face the Nation” in January, has spent most of the evenings at the Pepsi Center just sitting at his desk, not typing, not interviewing. We’ve been rooting for him to stand up and do some standups, but he spends more time shaking hands than interviewing pols. Crowley, meanwhile, is busy with her Blackberry and doing standups/sitdowns that involve speaking into a remote camera held at the end of a long boom.We also have a view of the CNN anchors’s set. Last night, Anderson Cooper, John King, Paul Begala and the others were all turned around in their stools, trying to catch a glimpse of Hillary Clinton walking onto the stage for her speech. But Wolf Blitzer kept his back to the stage, either doing his job by speaking into the camera (sorry, we don’t have a TV at our desk) or ignoring Clinton. You decide.