Long security lines meant a 3-hour wait for incoming state House Speaker Robbie Wills, D-Conway, before he got into Denver’s Invesco Field for the final night of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.

Those Arkansans who made it into the stadium more quickly sat for hours beneath an unrelenting sun waiting for the real star of the night, presidential nominee Barack Obama.

“It was worth the wait,” Wills said.

The delegates waved American flags and posters for the duration of Obama’s acceptance speech. The Arkansas delegation sat about 40 yards to the left of the stage on the football field-turned-convention hall.

As fireworks exploded and confetti drifted down toward some of the estimated 80,000 people in attendance, Arkansan Susana O’Daniel was hard-pressed to find words to capture the moment.

“I am so overwhelmed right now,” she said.

The Washington County resident who supported Sen. Hillary Clinton said Obama correctly used the speech not only to inspire, but to offer some specifics about what he would do as president.

“It was really good to have his point-by-point layout and his plan,” O’Daniel said. “This will go a long way. Everybody is united now. Everybody.”

Karla Bradley, the first vice chairman of the state Democratic party, said the speech “was about bridging the gaps to solve problems that maybe we thought we couldn’t solve.”

“It was a departure from the cynicism we have had the past eight years,” said Bradley, also of Washington County.

One of only eight Arkansas delegates who entered the national convention as an Obama delegate was also impressed with the speech.

“I think it was right on,” said Kedrin Edgerson of Jonesboro. “I think everyone was touched by it. Everyone knows we need change and he has a plan to do it.”

The Obama campaign has a tougher task ahead in its bid to win over Natural State voters.

Spectators eager to see Barack Obama’s historic acceptance speech tonight face extremely long lines to get into Invesco Field for the event.

Six hours before Obama was expected to take the stage, a line of ticket-holders snaked more than a half-mile outside the Denver’s NFL stadium.

Security was extremely tight at the outdoor venue. Attendees passed bags through X-ray machines and stepped through metal detectors. Bottled-water drinkers were required to take a sip before they could pass through security. Presumably, that was so that law enforcement could be sure the liquid wasn’t hazardous.

More than 70,000 people are expected to attend the fourth night of the Democratic National Convention as Obama accepts his party’s presidential nomination. It marks the first time a major political party has nominated a black candidate.

Obama’s speech falls on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington.

More than a hundred Arkansans are expected for the final night of the Democratic National Convention. The party gave the state’s delegation enough of the in-demand passes to accommodate Arkansans who are not delegates.

The state’s 47 delegates will be seated with other state delegations in prime seats on the football field.

The 5,000 or so people already in the stadium at 2:30 p.m. Mountain should have brought sunscreen. Though the temperature is pleasant (in the upper 70s) the sun is unmerciful.

The Denver Convention and Visitors Bureau warned visitors this week that the sun’s rays are 25 percent stronger in Denver than elsewhere in the country because of the region’s altitude.

Denver is exactly a mile high.

Barack Obama made a surprise appearance at the Pepsi Center just after Joe Biden wrapped up his vice presidential acceptance speech.

Hundreds of reporters and delegates that had been streaming out of the arena stormed back in when Obama hit the stage.

The capacity crowd of 19,000 greeted the presidential nominee with the ovation usually reserved for stoked fans at a rock concert. Then again, it’s no secret that a political convention isn’t much more than a show.

The convention moves Thursday to Invesco Field, Denver’s football stadium. More than 75,000 people are expected to attend.

The weather forecast for the outdoor event is 70 degrees and clear.