Denver, Colorado - Democratic leaders adopted their policy platform Monday, laying out key platform planks on issues including pensions, health care and women's right to abortion.

The business was conducted promptly after the festive opening of the presidential nominating convention, which will end Thursday with Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech to an audience of 75,000.

The platform passed with an enthusiastic yelling of "yes" by the 4,400 delegates at the Pepsi Centre in Denver.

With the singing of the national anthem and other patriotic songs and recitation of the pledge of allegiance to the flag, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean gavelled open the convention.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi took over as honorary chairwoman of the proceedings.

Key platform issues were laid out by Patricia Madrid, former attorney general of New Mexico, which is a key battleground state for Democrats trying to build on a growing success in the normally Republican West.

Hispanic voters in New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado are a key part of Obama's strategy to beat presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Madrid vowed that Obama, as president, would push through guarantees for the government pension programme and new initiatives to bring health care to America's more than 40 million uninsured, comparing his to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Depression-era New Deal.

She said the Bush administration had forced a "false choice between liberties we cherish and security we demand."

"We Democrats reject illegal wiretapping of American citizens. We reject the use of national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime," she said.

"I am very proud to say that we reject torture."

Judith McHale, Discovery Communications chief executive and another member of the platform committee, got a spirited cheer when she mentioned Senator Hillary Clinton, who lost the hard-fought battle for the Democratic nomination.

McHale said that the Democratic Party supports women's right to abortion, and called for an end to sexism which "sadly continues to be so prevalent throughout our society."

Later Monday, Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, is to headline the speaker list by telling voters about the life story of her husband, who is a relative newcomer to national politics. (dpa)