Rachel Talbot-Ross senses history in the making, and she plans to have a ringside seat.

When Barack Obama accepts the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in Denver on Thursday night, Talbot-Ross will be there, attending as a Maine delegate.

"I wanted to be part of the historic opportunity that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama presented to the party and to the world," said Talbot-Ross, a Portland resident whose mother, Anita, was the first African-American national delegate from Maine when she attended the party's 1976 convention.

"I felt that at this stage of my life I wanted to connect emotionally, and not just theoretically, to what that history means," she said.

Talbot-Ross and 31 other Maine Democratic delegates will join some 4,400 delegates from across the country for the party's 45th national convention, which begins Monday at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver.

The Maine delegation includes elected officials, such as Gov. John Baldacci and U.S. Reps. Tom Allen and Mike Michaud, as well as state party leaders.

But the group also features a large number of younger activists who are relatively new to politics at the national level, including several who are attending their first-ever convention.

Many say they are energized by Obama's candidacy and expect him to lead the Democratic Party, and the nation as a whole, into a future where the status quo is transformed.

"I don't want a president who's going to work the system to bring change," says Benjamin Goodman, 18, a University of Maine freshman from Kennebunk. "I want a president who's going to change the system."

DELEGATES SEEK PARTY UNITY

The delegation is evenly divided between men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 68, with nine delegates who commited to Hillary Clinton during the party's February caucuses.

During the four-day gathering, the delegates will convene each morning for breakfast meetings with key party figures from within and outside the state.

On Tuesday, they'll participate in a floor debate on the party's national platform.

Wednesday will kick off the formal nominating process, with a state-by-state roll call of delegate votes from the convention floor in the evening.

The frenzy will hit its peak when Obama makes his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High, a football stadium that was chosen as a venue because of its seating capacity of 75,000.

For the Clinton delegates, the nominating process holds a measure of uncertainty. Although Clinton has conceded the nomination, she has not released her delegates, some of whom are lobbying for a floor vote that would nominate her as Obama's running mate.

Katherine Epstein, 19, a junior at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, said she supported Clinton in the caucuses because of her positions on health care and issues of concern to gays and lesbians.

"I also thought that she brought more experience to the table and would be a better choice in securing the White House for the Democrats beyond the next eight years," Epstein said.

She said Obama's ability to make a place in his campaign for Clinton and her supporters will be a key test.

"I'm really hoping that he reaches out to the Clinton delegates at the convention and makes everybody feel like they're all part of the same thing," Epstein said.

Jon Hinck, 54, an Obama delegate from Portland, and one of several who serve in the Maine Legislature, said he is confident Obama will bring the party together and provide strong leadership.

"The biggest thing that attracts me to Obama is the way he brings together pragmatism and idealism," said Hinck, who is attending his first convention. "I also like his communication skills."

Scott Ruffner, a real estate agent from Bangor, attended the 2004 convention as a delegate pledged to Dennis Kucinich. Ruffner, 57, said he wants Obama to campaign...