Jimmy Carter’s speech at the Democratic National Convention will be on videotape from New Orleans, but he will be present in the convention hall in Denver on Monday night.
Obama convention spokesperson Jenny Backus called to clarify her e-mail yesterday and said the controversial former president will “be recognized” before his speech and may even introduce it. But the speech itself will have been previously recorded and originate from New Orleans, as a part of the program dedicated to remembering the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Carter will discuss, said Backus, “Americans coming together to help their neighbors and friends, fitting our theme of one nation. He will discuss programs that we can do together to make America stronger” and not talk about foreign policy.
The Republican Jewish Coalition has called for his removal from the convention schedule because of “troubling anti-Israel bias” and on Thursday, the National Council on Young Israel also urged the cancellation of his speech, calling it “an affront to the State of Israel, and to all American Zionists, whether they are Christians or Jews.”
Carter also spoke at the 2004 convention, but that was before the publication of his controversial book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
