DENVER – Alexi Giannoulias, the young first-term treasurer of Illinois, thinks he should be more nervous than he is.

He is one of several speakers from Illinois who will go on stage tonight before prime-time addresses by Sen. Claire McCaskill and Michelle Obama.

Giannoulias (Gee-uh-new-lee-us, but said quickly) was mentored politically by Barack Obama and was aided in his election by Obama’s endorsement. He now will testify before thousands to Obama’s story. It’s a bigger crowd than he’s ever faced.

And yet Giannoulias, 32, said he feels calm. Too calm. Perhaps stressed by the heat and the security lines, but otherwise calm.

“I feel like I should be more worried,” he said as we walked into the Pepsi Center. “Maybe that’s worrying me.”

Giannoulias also said he pulled a light blue tie similar to what Obama wore during his now famous speech from the convention in Boston in 2004.

“For good luck,” Giannoulias said.