Obama team gives Hillary a big say at convention

Washington: Barack Obama, still trying to douse embers of resentment among backers of Hillary Clinton, said the New York senator would have top billing on the second night of the Democratic convention later this month in Denver.

Obama's campaign called the former first lady, who nearly upended Obama's bid for the Democratic nomination in an extended and often bitter primary season, "a champion for working families and one of the most effective and empathetic voices in the country today."

Cathartic expression

Hillary will address the convention on August 26 - the 88th anniversary of US women's right to vote. There still was no word on whether she would seek a roll call vote for her candidacy as a means of allowing her large bloc of delegates to express a "cathartic" expression of support before falling in line behind Obama.

Hillary's husband, former president Bill Clinton, who has offered only tepid support for Obama, was not listed in the campaign's news release, although it has said he would speak on the third night of the convention.

The headliner on that night, the campaign said on Sunday, would be Obama's as-yet-unannounced vice presidential selection.

Obama is expected to become the party's first black presidential nominee on the fourth and final night as the convention moves from the indoor Pepsi Arena to a bigger venue at Invesco Field at Denver's Mile High stadium. That night is the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Obama, who is on vacation visiting his grandmother in his birth state of Hawaii, and Republican opponent John McCain were taking the day off on Sunday from a campaign that has grown increasingly negative.

McCain's campaign manager kept up the attack in the candidate's absence, saying on a Sunday political talk show that it was Obama, not the four-term Arizona senator, who first began negative campaigning. McCain has tried to portray Obama as an empty celebrity who gets more than his share of media coverage.

"Obama started negative campaigning on John McCain long before we started punching back, and I think a lot of our effort is really to get back into this game, try and galvanise some of the public attention back onto this race, make sure everybody understands there's two people in this race, not just one, and I think we've been successful in doing that," Rick Davis said on Fox television without elaboration.