Hillary Clinton has been chosen to deliver the keynote speech on the second night of the Democratic convention, a sign that she won’t be Barack Obama’s running mate — because the keynote speaker traditionally is not the vice presidential nominee.
An Obama aide told party insiders that Clinton has accepted the offer to deliver the prime-time speech on Tuesday night, August 26 — the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.
Obama aide Jennifer Koch told Massachusetts delegates that Obama’s vice presidential nominee will most likely speak on Monday and Wednesday evening, with Obama accepting the nomination on Thursday night, the New York Daily News reported.
“It really does send the signal that Hillary will not be the vice president,” said Gus Bickford, a superdelegate from Massachusetts.
And in a message posted on its Web site, Vote Both — a group backing the “dream ticket” of Obama and Clinton — said: “Regretfully, this means that Senator Hillary Clinton is no longer under consideration as Senator Obama’s running mate.”
Rep. Niki Tsongas, a Massachusetts Democrat, confirmed to the Boston Globe on Thursday that talk of Hillary as Obama’s running mate has died down.
She said: “You don’t hear it so much from the Obama campaign and from Senator Clinton herself.”
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