WASHINGTON (AFP) — Both Hillary and Bill Clinton will get high-profile speaking slots at this month's Democratic convention, a top backer of White House hopeful Barack Obama said Sunday.
Dick Durbin, Obama's fellow senator from Illinois, confirmed reports that both the New York senator and the former president will speak at the gathering in Denver, Colorado, as the party tries to heal wounds from its bitter primary battle.
"Hillary Clinton and president Clinton are integral parts of our convention in Denver," Durbin, a national co-chair for the Obama campaign, said on Fox News Sunday.
"Hillary Clinton will be speaking Tuesday night in prime time. President Clinton will be speaking Wednesday night. Their people are not only welcome to this convention, we need their help," he said.
The convention starts on Monday, August 25 and climaxes with Obama accepting the Democrats' presidential nomination on the following Thursday in front of 75,000 supporters at a Denver sports stadium.
The Democratic National Convention Committee and Obama campaign released a statement detailing each night's headline speakers, starting with the candidate's wife Michelle on the first Monday.
Following Hillary Clinton the next day, Obama's vice presidential nominee will be the keynote speaker on Wednesday.
The statement did not mention Bill Clinton, suggesting the former president will not get star billing on Wednesday in deference to Obama's running mate.
Kansas Governor and convention co-chair Kathleen Sebelius, one of the names touted as a VP pick for Obama, said: "We are at a critical moment in our nation's history.
"The 2008 convention will highlight Americans coming together to change the course of this nation," she said in the statement.
The convention buildup has been strained by disaffection among Clinton supporters still angry at the former first lady's defeat by Obama in the marathon primary process.
Clinton herself has hinted that she supports demands for a roll-call vote at the convention, so that the nearly 18 million primary votes she won can be formally recorded before Obama is nominated.
Some Obama supporters fear that could lay bare Democratic divisions at a time when the party is meant to be showcasing its unity for the general election fight against Republican John McCain.
Durbin echoed Obama in saying the convention arrangements were still being worked out.
"We've gone through a bruising primary season between these two excellent candidates, and there are some people still healing from that. I understand it," the senator said.
"But in the end, I believe that the Hillary Clinton supporters and Hillary herself are definitely committed to Obama's candidacy."
Clinton staged her first solo rally for Obama on Friday in Nevada, telling a cheering crowd that her supporters had far more common with Obama than with McCain as she urged a united front for November's election.
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