Memphis's Ford tapped as keynoter

By Los Angeles Times, 8/7/2000

ASHINGTON - The main speaker for the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles will be Harold E. Ford Jr., a 30-year-old congressman from Memphis.

Ford, the son of Tennessee's first black congressman, won his father's seat in 1996, becoming the youngest member of Congress. Ebony Magazine voted him one of America's most eligible bachelors.

''Harold E. Ford Jr. is a rising star of the Democratic Party,'' Vice President Al Gore said in a statement yesterday announcing the choice, which aides said he made personally. Gore has known Ford for years; he helped get him into his alma mater, the exclusive St. Albans prep school in Washington.

Ford won't be the only new face in Los Angeles.

The Democrats announced yesterday that the four-day convention in Los Angeles, which starts next Monday, will highlight working people and the issues that affect their daily lives. Each night, a prominent Democrat will moderate panel discussions of citizens on topics such as health care, education, crime and the economy in a series of conversations dubbed ''American Dialogues.''

Among those moderating or introducing the dialogues will be actor Jimmy Smits, Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, Washington Governor Gary Locke, Representative Charles Rangel of New York, Senators John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia and Charles Schumer of New York.

President Clinton will arrive in California Friday and speak during Monday's opening night session of the Democratic convention. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is running for the Senate in New York, also will speak Monday.