August 27, 2008, Denver, CO - The conventional wisdom that Iraq was THE dominant issue of the presidential campaign seem so outdated, replaced by worries about the economy and energy prices.

Yet the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are likely to figure large in speeches tonight, when vice presidential nominee Joe Biden is scheduled to take the convention stage.

And the Iraq war as a political issue now confronts the Democrats with a complex strategic challenge. They must decry President Bush's policy in Iraq with enough fervor to satisfy Democratic delegates who are still more energized by that issue than by any other -- but without seeming too narrowly focused on a subject that is no longer the top worry of most Americans.

Minnesota delegate Miguel Lindgren, of Roseville, said he is worried that Iraq is taking a back seat to the convention's focus on domestic issues.

"I haven't heard much, and it concerns me," Lindgren said. "Obviously, we're getting lost in the hype and the hoopla in the convention talking about issues at home finally, but we need to readdress the war."

Strong words against war

In one of their first orders of business, delegates ratified a party platform that backs Obama's pledge of "complete redeployment within 16 months from Iraq."

And one of the more forceful comments about Iraq at the convention came from Sen. Edward Kennedy on Monday night. "Barack Obama will be a commander in chief who understands that young Americans in uniform must never be committed to a mistake, but always to a mission worthy of their bravery," Kennedy told the crowd.

But even a number of Iraq war veterans running for office, including Marine Ashwin Madia in Minnesota's Third Congressional District, now seem to focus more on domestic issues. At a breakfast with the Minnesota delegation on Tuesday, Madia never mentioned that he was a vet and referred to Iraq only twice.