Va.'s Warner to Keynote Denver

Mark Warner, Virginia's former governor and current Democratic Senate candidate, has been named the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention, a plum spot that springboarded Barack Obama himself to national prominence. Warner's selection ends speculation that Hillary Clinton, who will also speak that night, would land the position.

Placing Warner in the national spotlight could help boost his campaign in Virginia, a state Obama is also campaigning hard in. But the convention committee has always described Clinton as the night's "headliner," and some news outlets had incorrectly called her the keynote speaker. "Mark Warner is the future of the Democratic Party," said one former Clinton staffer, "and putting him on Tuesday night with Hillary Clinton is exactly the right move for Obama." (More Democratic National Convention stories.)