Ex-Virginia governor to give keynote at Democratic convention
(CNN) -- Former Virginia Gov. and Senate candidate Mark Warner will deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention this month.
Mark Warner, left, with Rep. Rick Boucher and Sen. Barack Obama,
will give the Democratic keynote address.
Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign announced Wednesday that Warner will deliver the speech on the convention's second night -- August 26. That's the same night that former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton will give her prime-time address.
A Democratic source close to Clinton earlier had said, "Tuesday night is Hillary night," before Warner landed the role of keynote speaker.
Four years ago, Obama -- a little-known state lawmaker from Illinois who was running for the U.S. Senate -- had the same role. His speech at the convention in Boston, Massachusetts, was highly praised by Democrats.
Warner, who has been mentioned as a possible contender for the vice presidential spot, won Virginia's governorship in 2001. The win marked the first in a string of statewide election victories by Democrats in a state that Republicans once dominated.
Warner is battling Jim Gilmore, another ex-governor of Virginia, to replace retiring Republican Sen. John Warner. (Mark and John Warner are not related.)
In June, Obama kicked off his general election campaign in Virginia, signaling that he thinks he can turn the once solidly red state into a Democratic pickup come November.
Virginia hasn't voted for a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, but for more than a year, Obama's campaign has cited the state's 13 electoral votes as part of its argument that he can reshuffle the electoral map this fall.
Democrats said the theme of the second night of their convention will be "Renewing America's Promise."
Meanwhile, with the conventions fast approaching, there's no word on whom Obama and Sen. John McCain will pick as their running mates.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/...rap/index.html