OMAHA — Promising post-partisan change that restores a divided country, Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday ignited a cheering crowd of 10,000 Nebraskans.

The huge gathering overflowed the downtown Civic Auditorium, a building that once echoed with the words of John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy.

“We will gather our voices together,” Obama told the   enthusiastic audience composed primarily of young people.

“The time for change has come.  It’s time to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history.”

Obama’s call for “economic fairness,” health care reform, educational advancement and other reforms at home was balanced by a summons to restore U.S. global prestige, bring U.S. troops home from Iraq in 2009 and “end the mindset that got us into war.”

Flashbulbs popped and cell phone cameras filled the air as Obama rocked Omaha two days before Nebraska’s first-ever Democratic presidential caucuses.

Already, delegates were tumbling his way.

Democratic National Committeeman Vince Powers of Lincoln and Frank LaMere of South Sioux City, chairman of the national party’s Native Caucus, said they’ve decided to cast their so-called “superdelegate” votes for Obama.

Sen. Ben Nelson already was in Obama’s camp and Democratic State Chairman Steve Achelpohl of Omaha said he’s leaning that way.

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler, both of whom will be delegates, have endorsed the Illinois senator.

Obama is the kind of candidate who can help Democrats build a party in Nebraska, Achelpohl said as he surveyed the energetic gathering.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. 

Obama is “truly setting the agenda for the country,” LaMere said.  “The tribes are ready for Obama.”

The big crowd waited inside the jammed auditorium for more than two hours for Obama to speak, filling all the balcony seats and standing in concert fashion on the floor.  Thousands had waited outside in long lines in the cold for more than an hour before the doors were opened.

The popular band “Bright Eyes” provided the entertainment.

“It’s an extraordinary crowd,” Nelson said, marveling from the sidelines an hour before Obama spoke.

“I can’t remember when we’ve had this number of people.  This is unbelievable.”

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver traveled to Omaha to announce from the stage that he’s decided to endorse Obama in his showdown battle with Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. Obama won the Iowa presidential caucuses last month.

Nelson introduced Obama to the crowd with the greeting: “Welcome back to Obamaha.”

Speaking from a stage on the arena floor, Obama began with a greeting of his own: “Well, Cornhuskers.”

The country is “tired of being divided,” he said.  “It wants to come together and do great things.”

And, Obama said, he believes he can build a working coalition composed of Democrats, independents and some Republicans.

That movement will include young people, he said, who have decided this year that “we’re not going to sit this one out.”

The biggest roar of the night in one of the most dependably red, or Republican, states in the nation came when Obama said people are relieved that “Bush will not be on the ballot” this November.

President Bush won two landslide elections in Nebraska.

Obama’s speech was filled with familiar passages, honed over a year of campaigning, but it now includes references to the likelihood that the Democratic nominee will face Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the general election.

“I’m looking forward to debating John McCain,” he said.

McCain, he said, will not be able to say to him that “you supported the war” or that “you gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran.”

Clinton voted for the Senate resolution authorizing Bush to use military force against Iraq and in favor of a Senate amendment branding the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, a designation that critics suggest could be used by the White House as a pretense for a U.S. attack.

After his 45-minute speech, Obama headed to Seattle.

Michelle Obama, the senator’s wife, will speak on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus at noontime today.    She’ll address a rally at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

An Obama rally is scheduled tonight along O Street between 12th and 14th Streets from 6 to 8 p.m.

Chelsea Clinton moves on to Creighton University in Omaha today after Thursday events in Lincoln and Grand Island.

Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign began airing a TV ad featuring Bob Kerrey, Nebraska’s former U.S. senator and former governor.

“I support Hillary because I like her, trust her and have confidence in her as commander-in-chief,” Kerrey says.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.