Massachusetts governor among DNC speakers

BOSTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patric will speak the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, joining other party heavyweights, officials said.

Patrick, one of Sen. Barack Obama's closest proxies, is among those who will speak of strengthening the middle class and will "share how Obama's policies have been directly shaped by the people he has met as he traveled the country," The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

Patrick campaigned for Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in the early-voting states of Iowa and South Carolina.

Party insiders had speculated Patrick, a former U.S. assistant attorney general for civil rights, might join an Obama administration or seek a Supreme Court appointment, but he has said he plans to seek re-election as governor, the Globe said.

Among the speakers for Aug. 26 are former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner , who will deliver the keynote address; Obama's primary rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, who will give the "headliner" prime-time speech; and Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Ted Strickland of Ohio, Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Brian Schweitzer of Montana; and Federico Pena, former Denver mayor and secretary of both Energy and Transportation departments.