DENVER — Dayton-area delegates are headed home, confident that the Democratic National Convention unified the party behind Barack Obama but concerned about what Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin called the "500-pound gorilla in the room" — the issue of race in the presidential election.

There's no doubt that Obama has the better answers to the economy and other problems nagging Ohio and the nation, according to McLin. The question, she said, is whether voters will see past his race to the solutions he has.

The eyes of the rest of the world — where the majority of the population is non-white — will be on the United States, she said.

Jerome Sutton of Yellow Springs said that he expects Republicans to try to use race as a "wedge" issue to divide voters — a charge Republicans have denied. Sutton said he's confident Obama can overcome what the Republicans throw at him. "Nothing binds people like shared adversity," he said.

Unity was the overriding theme during the week, a message stressed at just about every function.

"My goal at this point was that we would be a unified and energized party," said Enid Goubeaux of Greenville. "I think the goal has been achieved."

Speeches by Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's chief rival for the nomination, and her husband former President Bill Clinton lauding Obama and blasting presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain were crucial, the delegates said.

"They put aside any question of whether they were supporters of Sen. Obama," said state Sen. Tom Roberts of Dayton.

State Rep. Clayton Luckie of Dayton said the convention "achieved more than I ever thought it would achieve" in uniting all Democrats behind Obama.

Tom Ritchie, a Dayton-area labor leader from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and veteran of five conventions said, "I'm more excited about change than any other time."

The most poignant moment, said Ritchie, came when Hillary Clinton asked the convention to nominate Obama by acclamation. Ritchie said he saw tears rolling down the cheeks of labor delegates as they joined hands in unity.

"It was the most moving moment of my 32 years in the labor movement, he said.

Kelly Gillis, Democratic chairman in Republican-leaning Miami County, left the convention brimming with optimism for Nov. 4.

"I think we (in Miami County) can get Obama, if not over the top at 51 percent, at least in the real high 40s," she said.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.