CONVENTION FRENZY

Our US Senator continues to shine!!

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

McCaskill speaking on opening night at Dem convention

By: Jo Mannies

The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) and the campaign of presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama plan to announce shortly that Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., will be among the prime time speakers on the convention’s opening night.

McCaskill will join U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Obama’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama’s brother, will address the convention on Monday, Aug. 25, the first night of the four-day extravaganza in Denver, Col.

The choice of McCaskill, one of Obama’s national co-chairs and a favorite campaign surrogate, appears to signal one of the ways she’s being rewarded for her early and outspoken endorsement of his candidacy.

What’s unclear is whether her address will end up on prime time TV or on cable.

According to the release, the Monday night theme is One Nation. The headline speaker is Michelle Obama, the candidate’s wife.

McCaskill and Pelosi “will speak late in the program about the changing Democratic Party and the efforts of leading Democrats to reach out to Independents and Republicans to get the country moving in the right direction,” the release says.

Monday night will also feature a tribute to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is battling cancer and is close to Obama.

More from the release:

Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama’s brother, will introduce his sister, who will be Monday’s headline speaker in prime-time. As the person who knows him best, Michelle will talk about the Barack Obama she knows and loves, the values that shape him and why she believes he’ll be an extraordinary president. In an effort to highlight the setting of the Convention and the importance of the Mountain West to the Democratic Party, Monday’s program will also feature a video segment introducing delegates and other Convention attendees to the natural beauty and strong voices of leadership in the region.