BOSTON  — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (search) was preparing a splashy entrance at the Democratic National Convention (search) Wednesday, taking a water taxi across the Boston Harbor to the FleetCenter ahead of his accepting his party's nomination for president of the United States.

Kerry's plane touched down under a cloudy Boston sky around 11:20 a.m. EDT. The senator has now entered the last leg of his America's Freedom Trail, the long and winding road that has led him along the East coast to his hometown for this year's 44th annual convention. Upon his arrival, the Boston Brahmin was being welcomed home by 13 of his crewmates from his service in Vietnam. Their appearance will be followed by a group endorsement of Kerry by 12 retired admirals and generals.

The focus of the convention Wednesday is Kerry's plan to keep America safe and restore respect in the world. This year, 40 percent of the Democratic platform concerns national security and keeping America safe.

Vice presidential pick John Edwards (search) will appear before the convention delegates Wednesday night to accept the party's vice presidential nomination; the North Carolina senator will be introduced by his wife, Elizabeth Edwards (search).

Kerry will accept his nomination on Thursday evening, the closing night of the four-day rally.

Edwards, who arrived Tuesday in Boston and appeared in the FleetCenter for a time on Tuesday night, told reporters that the acceptance speech he has been preparing for Wednesday night is essentially finished. He said he awoke at 4 a.m. and practiced it for several hours while his wife slept.

Early Wednesday, Edwards went to the convention floor for a microphone check.

"Should I just go ahead and give the speech now?" he asked a nearly empty hall.

Kerry campaigned in Virginia and Pennsylvania on Tuesday. In Philadelphia, he included a reference to the movie "Rocky."

"I may not run up those steps but I'm going to deliver the knock-out punch and I'm going to win," Kerry vowed.

Later, from his hotel room, he watched his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry (search), speak to the delegates. "She looks great," he said.

A better America can be built and walls can be torn down and John Kerry can help bring that image of the nation to reality, Heinz Kerry said of her husband in the speech closing out day two of the convention.

"That, for me, is the spirit of America — the America you and I are working for in this election," Heinz Kerry said. "It is the America that people all across this nation want to restore — from Iowa to California, from Florida to Michigan, from Washington state to my home state of Pennsylvania. It is the America the world wants to see, shining, hopeful, and bright once again. And that is the America that my husband John Kerry wants to lead."

Dems' Rising Star

Heinz Kerry's comments came as Democrats gathered to salute their nominee this year and to tap a rising party star whose name could well be offered in a future convention.

Many Democrats agree that Barack Obama (search) — with his boyish charm, good looks and fluidity of speech — has the rock-star appeal needed to inject some more "oomph" into their party.

The son of a man born and raised in Kenya, who grew up herding goats and attending school in a tin-roof shack, Obama — whose grandfather was a domestic servant — said his history isn't so unusual.

"I stand here knowing my story is part of the larger American story," Obama said.

He told delegates that in this election, Democrats are offering the only choice Americans have to better their lives.

"Our party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer," said Obama, who is running unopposed for a U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald.

"That man is John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith and sacrifice, because they've defined his life ... his values and his record affirm what is best in us."

Though he never mentioned Bush by name and he kept his message more positive than previous convention speakers, he expressed no ambiguity about who he was rooting for come November.

"There are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes," Obama said, firing a shot at Republicans. "Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America — there's the United States of America.

"Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope."

Before she began her endorsement of her husband, Heinz Kerry spoke about the reputation she's built as a woman not afraid to speak her mind on any issue.

"My name is Teresa Heinz Kerry. And by now I hope it will come as no surprise to anyone that I have something to say," she said, eliciting cheers. Earlier this week, Heinz Kerry told a reporter to "shove it" after he tried to have her clarify statements she made.

With President Bush still enjoying high approval ratings in the area of national security, Heinz Kerry joined a chorus of previous convention speakers in touting her candidate's defense and security experience.

"With John Kerry as president, we can, and we will, protect our nation's security without sacrificing our civil liberties," she said. "In short, John believes we can, and we must, lead in the world — as America, unique among nations, always should — by showing the face, not of our fears, but of our hopes."

Heinz Kerry also urged Americans to look at her husband as a kinder, gentler leader for an embattled nation.

"Today, the better angels of our nature are just waiting to be summoned. We only require a leader who is willing to call on them, a leader willing to draw again on the mystic chords of our national memory and remind us of all that we, as a people, everyday leaders, can do; of all that we as a nation stand for and of all the immense possibility that still lies ahead. I think I've found just the guy. I'm married to him," she said.

Reagan Touts Stem-Cell Research

Ron Reagan (search) said he didn't come to the Democratic convention to talk politics, but to urge more support for embryonic stem-cell research.

"A few of you may be surprised to see someone with my last name showing up to speak at a Democratic convention," said Reagan, the son of the late President Ronald Reagan (search), who died last month from complications associated with Alzheimer's disease.

"Let me assure you, I am not here to make a political speech, and the topic at hand should not-must not-have anything to do with partisanship," Reagan said.

President Reagan's death renewed debate over the use of stem cells in researching potential cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries.

The issue is political because Democrats say President Bush's decision to limit the number of embryonic stem cell lines that can be researched using federal dollars is prohibiting the science from developing.

"In a few months, we will face a choice. Yes, between two candidates and two parties, but more than that," Reagan said.

"We have a chance to take a giant stride forward for the good of all humanity. We can choose between the future and the past, between reason and ignorance, between true compassion and mere ideology. This is our moment, and we must not falter."

The Return of the Dean Machine

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (search) was introduced by the emcee as "the man who energized our party."

Dean led in the Democratic primary early this year before his campaign imploded. On Tuesday night, he received an energetic welcome from the party faithful, including some who held up signs and T-shirts in support of his own bid for the presidency.

"I was hoping for a reception like this. I was just hoping that it would be on Thursday night, instead of on Tuesday night," Dean said.

Thursday night is when Kerry formally accepts the Democratic nomination for president. The crowd gave Dean an extended ovation, much like his supporters offered as he crisscrossed the country earlier this year.

Although the primal scream heard 'round the world brought his campaign to its knees, Dean is credited with putting a much-needed spark into the Democratic Party.

"I may not be the nominee, but I can tell you this: For the next 100 days, I'll be doing everything I can to make sure that John Kerry and John Edwards take our country back for the people who built it."

Kennedy's Tea Party

Earlier, Senate giant Edward Kennedy (search) said he'd like to throw President Bush a "polite little tea party."

"I know just the place — right down the road at Boston Harbor," the Massachusetts senator told the 4,353 delegates and thousands of others, slamming Bush on everything from the war in Iraq and foreign policy to Social Security and Medicare.

"So much of the progress we once achieved has been turned back. So much of the goodwill America once enjoyed in the world has been lost. But we are a hopeful nation, and our values and our optimism are still burning bright," Kennedy said.

"America must be a light to the world, and under John Kerry and John Edwards, that's what America will be," he added before exiting the stage with other members of the Kennedy clan as convention participants wildly waved signs emblazoned with one word: "Kennedy."