Former President Bill Clinton dispelled the question of whether he could fully support Sen. Barack Obama by giving a rousing speech Wednesday night in Denver endorsing the Democratic Party's choice for president.

During the primaries, Mr. Clinton, zealously supporting his wife's candidacy, was criticized by Sen. Obama's campaign for tactics and words that some considered too harsh. Some observers wondered whether Mr. Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton could support Mr. Obama due to lingering hard feelings from the primary season.

But Sen. Clinton did her best for Mr. Obama Tuesday night and President Clinton followed suit Wednesday. The opening line of his speech was, "I am here first to support Barack Obama."

Mr. Clinton even compared the 47-year-old senator to himself: "The Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander in chief," the former president said. "Sound familiar?"

"It didn't work in 1992 because we were on the right side of history. And it will not work in 2008 because Barack Obama is on the right side of history," he thundered.

Speaking for 20 minutes, Mr. Clinton lambasted Republican policies and pronounced Mr. Obama the solution to reverse them.

"Barack Obama knows that America can't be strong abroad unless we are first strong at home," Mr. Clinton said. "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power."

He said that Republican candidate Sen. John McCain was wrong and Mr. Obama right "on the two great questions of this election, how to rebuild the American Dream and how to restore America's leadership in the world."

Uttering Barack Obama's name at least 15 times, Mr. Clinton said he was convinced that Mr. Obama is "the man for this job." He praised the nominee's "remarkable ability to inspire people," his "intelligence and curiosity," his "clear grasp" of foreign policy, the strength he gained from the "long, hard primary" and the judgment he showed in choosing Sen. Joseph Biden as his running mate.

The address enforced party unity and set the stage for Mr. Obama's acceptance speech Thursday night.