Obama urges voters to get behind Clinton

The two were rivals in the hard-fought 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination

US President Barack Obama painted an optimistic picture of the country's future and offered full-throated support for Hillary Clinton's bid to defeat Republican Donald Trump in a speech that electrified the Democratic National Convention.

He urged Democrats to enable Clinton to finish the job he started with his election nearly eight years ago in a rousing speech that capped a night when party luminaries took to the stage to contrast the party's new standard-bearer with Trump, whom they portrayed as a threat to US values.