Scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 5 around 7:00 PM...By Jerry Hagstrom, Founding Editor, The Hagstrom Report
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will speak at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday evening, according to Democratic Party sources.
The speech will be in the hour beginning at 7 PM EST. That means it will not be covered by the networks, but can be viewed on C-SPAN and various websites that will stream the convention live.
One Democratic lobbyist said the convention organizers' decision to give Vilsack a speaking slot was a victory for farm interests and rural Democrats in their attempt to woo the rural vote, since there was no specifically agricultural or rural speaker at the Republican convention.
The Obama campaign has launched Rural Americans for Obama in an effort to attract voters.
Vilsack, a former two-term governor of Iowa, threw his hat into the ring as a presidential candidate during the 2008 campaign, and later switched his allegiance to Hillary Rodham Clinton before becoming an Obama supporter.
First Lady Michelle Obama addresses the Convention tonight, and President Obama speaks on Thursday.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is also scheduled to speak at the Convention.
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Jerry Hagstrom, founder and editor of the online, subscription-only The Hagstrom Report, will be reporting from Charlotte this week, with cross-posting here at Obama Foodorama.
*Photo by USDA; President Obama and Sec. Vilsack were in Iowa discussing the Administration's drought-relief efforts.
