Clinton Lands Starring Role at Convention

He's back. Bill Clinton will play a major role in the upcoming Democratic National Convention, and will be the one to place Barack Obama's name into nomination after an address hammering home an economic argument for the president's reelection, reports the New York Times. Clinton is expected to help skewer the GOP by underscoring his experience as a Democratic president who left a surplus for his Republican successor to squander, aides have told CNN. “There isn’t anybody on the planet who has a greater perspective on not just the last four years, but the last two decades, than Bill Clinton,” Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod tells the Times. “He can really articulate the choice that is before people.”

The prime-time speech in Charlotte will mark perhaps the most significant event to date in Clinton's support for the president, who defeated Hillary Clinton for the nomination the last time around in a sometimes acrimonious race. Vice President Joe Biden will appear on the final night of the convention to make a speech for Obama before tens of thousands of people at the outdoor Bank of America Stadium, and will appear on stage with the president as they accept the nomination. (More Barack Obama stories.)