Democrats nominate Biden for epic challenge to oust Trump

(AP) — Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their presidential candidate, with party elders, a new generation of politicians and voters in every state joining in an extraordinary, pandemic-cramped virtual convention to send him into the general election campaign to oust President Donald Trump.For someone who has spent more than three decades eyeing the presidency, the moment Tuesday night was the realization of a long-sought goal. Former President Barack Obama will also speak as part of his stepped-up efforts to defeat his successor.Biden will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night in a mostly empty convention hall near his Delaware home.Biden used the second night of the four-day convention to feature a mix of party elders, Republican as well as Democratic, to make the case that he has the experience and energy to repair chaos that Trump has created at home and abroad.Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry — and former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell — were among the heavy hitters on a schedule that emphasized a simple theme: Leadership matters. It’s a blooper reel.”Clinton said Trump’s Oval Office is a place of chaos, not a command center.“If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he’s your man,” Clinton said.For his part, Trump spent Tuesday courting battleground voters in an effort to distract from Biden’s convention.