Even Biden, after his moving vice-presidential acceptance speech, was surprised. His wife Jill announced the arrival of a special guest. Biden said, “Who?”

Barack Obama, the man of the hour, unexpectedly appeared on the podium. The house went wild.

With “Uncle Teddy” Kennedy surprising the convention on Monday, and the Clintons vowing unequivocal support for Obama on Tuesday and Wednesday, the obvious question is what surprises would the Democrats unveil on Thursday night at Mile High Stadium?

Prior to President Clinton’s speech on Wednesday, I finally reached Rep. Mike Thompson, D- St. Helena, who was with the California delegation. Then the challenge was getting back to my seat in the press area. At the foot of the delegation, actor Jamie Foxx was trapped by a horde of gawkers and cameramen. He attracted more attention than any politician within two time zones of Denver, bringing movement on the floor to an absolute stop.

Should I push my way to the press section, an ordeal that would take up at least three speeches? Or head for the corridor and risk getting locked out?

I opted for the latter and made it to my seat just before the Secret Service shut down the arena, and just in time to hear Bill Clinton give another memorable speech.

My favorite line: “People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example then by the example of our power.”

Gary Hart, 1984 candidate for president, leaned over and said, “The man is ready to run again.”

At a late-night reception sponsored by the California delegation, we met Jay Chen, a 30-something Obama delegate from the City of Industry, and his girlfriend, Karen Chang, 27, senior assistant to California Comptroller John Chiang. Between bites of a chocolate éclair and sips of decaf, I asked why he got into politics and chose Obama.

“Politics is considered a dirty business in my family due to the pervasive corruption we remember back in Taiwan,” he said. “But today I see politics as a vehicle, an opportunity to influence, inspire and change the direction of our policies. Obama actually chose me.”

I asked him to explain. “I was serving on the school board when the Obama campaign called, reached out, and asked me to get involved … they took a personal interest and followed up. I contacted Hillary’s camp, but only received an informal e-mail asking me to send money. That was it.”

Chen plans to spend the fall working with the growing Asian-American community for the Obama/Biden ticket. “Obama will win California by 20 percent, so my efforts could be put to better use in the battleground state next door.”