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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Eager to showcase new faces at the party's national convention, Democrats have picked just about the newest face around to deliver the keynote address: Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama.
Obama could become only the fifth black senator in U.S. history. Tapping him to deliver the keynote address suggests the party sees a bright future for the 42-year-old law professor and state senator.
"What an extraordinary expression of confidence by the national party in his ability to command that stage," said David Wilhelm, the former head of the Democratic National Committee.
Obama, whose father was black, has made a splash on the national scene since his March victory in the Illinois Senate primary, partly because he was able to win the support of many white voters as well as an overwhelming number of blacks.
"At a time when so much of our politics seems divided, the fact that, at least within the Democratic Party, we were able to pull together a broad-based coalition is encouraging to Democrats," he said Wednesday.
Mary Beth Cahill, campaign manager for presidential candidate John Kerry, said Obama represents "the next generation of Democratic leadership. He really leaped out as someone who people would really love to see."
Although his address is billed as the "keynote," other speeches, such as one delivered by former President Bill Clinton, will be more high-profile. Obama speaks July 27, a night when the broadcast networks are not planning to air convention coverage.
One person who won't be speaking at the convention is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. That prompted the former chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Party and a major fundraiser to call the decision a "total outrage" and "very stupid."
"It's a slap in the face, not personally for Hillary Clinton, but for every woman in the Democratic Party and every woman in America," said Judith Hope, who said she would appeal to Kerry to "correct this omission" and would send e-mails to more than 1,000 New York women complaining about the slight.