PHILADELPHIA _ President Barack Obama's pitch for Hillary Clinton in front of a prime-time Democratic convention audience Wednesday was intended to home in on her temperament to serve as commander in chief, drawing a contrast from what Obama sees as Donald Trump's lack of fitness for the office.
"There has never been a man or a woman more qualified" to serve as president than his former secretary of state, Obama was to declare on a night that also introduced the nation to Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who stressed as well that Trump was too risky a gamble.
"Our nation is too great to put it in the hands of a slick-talking, empty-promising, self-promoting, one-man wrecking crew," Kaine said.
Obama planned to offer a perspective few else could, experience in the Oval Office.
"Until you've sat at that desk, you don't know what it's like to manage a global crisis or send young people to war. But Hillary's been in the room; she's been part of those decisions," he planned to say, according to an advance excerpt of his remarks. " ... Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, and keeps her cool, and treats everybody with respect."
Obama's active role in the race to succeed him has little recent precedent. He is driven in part by the preservation of his own legacy, much of which rests on whether his successor preserves his administration's actions on climate, foreign policy and other major issues.
His argument Wednesday, focused on how Clinton carried herself in particular in the Situation Room during the most sensitive and tense moments of his first term, fit neatly into the bigger case Democrats made on the convention's third night for Clinton over Trump.
But the most powerful evidence for their argument may have come from Trump himself. Earlier Wednesday, he encouraged Russian operatives to hack Clinton's personal emails, a stunning claim from a figure who has long tested credulity and the limits of political discourse.
"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you'll be able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," he said, referring to deleted emails from the private account Hillary Clinton used as secretary of state. "I think you'll probably be rewarded mightily by our press."
Clinton's campaign called it the first time a presidential candidate "has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent."
"This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue," senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan said.
Former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta said at the convention that Trump "once again took Russia's side."
"It is inconceivable to me that any presidential candidate would be this irresponsible," he said.
Trump's own running mate appeared to try to temper the nominee's assertion. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said that if it were proven that Russia was behind another hack, into Democratic National Committee emails, with an intent to influence U.S. elections, "I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences."
And in his largely autobiographical speech, Kaine took up the running mate's customary role of attacking the opposition with gusto, contrasting Clinton's detail-laden policy agenda with Trump's vague promises.
"He says, 'Believe me,'" Kaine scoffed. "Well his creditors, his contractors, his laid-off employees, his ripped-off students did just that and they all got hurt. Folks, you cannot believe one word that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth."
Vice President Joe Biden delivered a similar rebuke, saying that no nominee "has ever known less, or been less prepared to deal with our national security."
Clinton's strongest case for her election has been built on the contrast with her rival, though Democrats have sought to use this week's convention to positively portray their nominee and the historic nature of her candidacy. Her campaign has painted Trump as erratic and running for president in a self-interested pursuit of greater wealth and fame.
Obama also planned to argue that Clinton will be steady and calm where Trump is unpredictable _ another way of saying that he fails the commander-in-chief and chief-executive tests.
Biden, who has worked with Clinton for decades, also sought to undercut Trump's appeal as a champion for the economically distressed in a speech that followed a tribute to his decades of service in the Senate and partnership with Obama.
"This guy doesn't have a clue about the middle class. Not a clue," Biden said of Trump. "Actually, he has no clue, period."
Wednesday's proceedings also included emotional testimony from relatives of the victims of mass shootings in Orlando, Fla., and in Newtown, Conn., and a powerful statement of support from former Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, still recovering from an attempted assassination in 2011 that killed six others.
Mostly, though, Democrats were unsparing in the attacks on Trump. The billionaire was alternately described as a carnival barker, an egomaniac and "a hateful con man," in the words of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
"It's time to put a bully racist in his place," said former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who lost to Clinton in the primaries.
California Gov. Jerry Brown took aim at Trump's past suggestion that the warming of the planet was "a hoax."
"Trump is a fraud," he said.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hit Trump where it hurts: in his business portfolio.
"Trump says he wants to run the nation like he runs his business," Bloomberg said. "God help us."
Obama intended to drive home the idea in the evening's finale, tearing down Trump while endorsing Clinton as the fierce former rival who later became one of his most important and trusted advisers.
Recognizing that the convention is traditionally a moment when voter sentiments can shift dramatically, he wanted to focus on Clinton rather than his own administration.
Obama sees himself as a witness who can describe her in action, an adviser said.
"Few people actually are at the table when some of these momentous decisions are being made," said the adviser, who would not be named discussing Obama's speech before he delivered it. "It's about revealing experiences he has had."
The White House worked closely with Clinton's campaign to prepare for the president's role. White House aides say they have largely deferred to her team in Brooklyn, trusting some of the same officials now working for her who also helped guide Obama twice to victory.
As the first lady sought to do in her convention address Monday, Obama also intended to focus on what unites the country _ a coda 12 years to the day of the Democratic convention speech that launched his career in national politics when he declared that there were no red states or blue states, but one United States of America.
