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GREENSBORO - Ossie Edwards says she expects to see history in the making this week in Denver.

The retired nurse is a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, where Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is expected to be installed officially as his party's nominee for president.

Edwards won't say how old she is, exactly - "I'm no baby boomer, I can tell you that" - but she is a widow, a farmer's daughter and an African American who never thought she'd see a black presidential candidate as the party's nominee for president.

"I understand that change comes all the time, and we all live in a moment of hope," she said. "But it never dawned on me that an African American would get to this point. But hey, we never know what's going to happen in life."

Guilford County is sending 11 delegates to the convention in Denver, part of a contingent of more than 130 from across the state. Republicans will gather next week in St. Paul, Minn., to officially anoint Arizona Sen. John McCain as their nominee.

In the early part of the 20th century, political horse-trading during conventions regularly settled who would be the party's nominee. The last of the truly brokered conventions was in the 1950s, when Democrats chose Adlai Stevenson to take on Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower.

But with presidential primaries increasing in importance over the years, a single candidate has a clear advantage going into the convention. So if delegates aren't going to have to worry about picking the nominee, what will they be doing?

"It's all about rallying the troops and building momentum for November and getting people excited about the ticket - that's the main point of the convention these days," said state Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat.

And Democrats expect to have extra work to do at the convention this year. Some supporters of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton are still stung by their candidate's primary losses.

"I've been trying to recruit for Women for Obama, and some of the people I've talked to say they're not quite over it yet," Harrison said. "That sort of surprises me."

Clinton will be the headline speaker Tuesday night, the 88th anniversary of the 19th amendment's ratification, which enshrined a woman's right to vote in the constitution.

Aside from hearing from Obama and Clinton, Democrats will settle on their party platform for the coming year, hold meetings among groups with particular topical interests, such as the environment, and of course there will be social functions.

"They're saying we're going to be so busy we're only going to have time to sleep," Edwards said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker @news-record.com