“I’m practically speechless,” Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said as delegates erupted in raucous cheers when she took the podium to introduce her husband, the former president.

The senator, who is believed to harbor presidential ambitions in 2008 if Kerry is defeated in November, gave a brief but spirited address that praised Kerry, her fellow Democratic senator from Massachusetts, as “a serious man, for a serious job.”

Clinton made only passing references to President Bush, in keeping with Democratic leaders’ determination to focus on Kerry, who she said would “lead the world, not alienate it; lower the deficit, not raise it; create good jobs, not lose them; solve a health care crisis, not ignore it.”

‘Foot soldier’ in Kerry’s army
The loudest welcome then followed for Bill Clinton, the last Democrat in the White House. He, too, sought to deflect the attention back to Kerry.

“Tonight, I speak as a citizen, eager to join you here in Boston as a foot soldier in the fight for our future, as we nominate a true New England patriot for president,” he said. “The state that gave us John Adams and John Kennedy has now given us John Kerry, a good man, a great senator, a visionary leader.”

Like other top party leaders, Clinton promised “a positive campaign, arguing not who’s good and who’s bad, but what is the best way to build the safe, prosperous world our children deserve.”

Departing from a series of earlier speakers who criticized the war in Iraq and Republican foreign policies, the former president devoted much of his address to traditional Democratic themes of economic equity and protection of social services.

“When I was in office, the Republicans were pretty mean to me,” Clinton said. “When I left and made money, I became part of the most important group in the world to them. At first I thought I should send them a thank you note — until I realized the rest of you were paying the bill, and then I thought better of it.”

“We tried it their way 12 years, then we tried it our way eight years and then we tried it their way again four years. ... Our way works better,” he said.

“John Kerry took tough positions on tough problems,” Clinton said. “He knows who he is and where he’s going. ... He proved that when he picked John Edwards to be his partner.”

Clinton said in an interview with NBC News’ Tom Brokaw beforehand that “I don’t think there’s a lot of danger” that he would overshadow Kerry. “... I had a great life in politics. And now I’m sort of back to being a foot soldier, just like I was.”  more...

Ever since Clinton was elected, she's maintained unusually close ties with technology companies--a rarity for a freshman senator who is a member of no relevant committees, has a poor record of enacting legislation, and would normally have little to offer Silicon Valley firms

Two examples: Last month Clinton joined a "tech policy roundtable" hosted by the Business Software Alliance that included Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen and Symantec CEO John Thompson. Earlier, she spoke at a board of directors meeting of the Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Apple, Cisco, Dell, eBay, IBM, Intel and Microsoft.

(CNSNews.com) - The selection of North Carolina Sen. John Edwards as the Democratic vice presidential running mate sparked more curiosity Tuesday about the political future of former first lady and current New York Sen. Hillary Clinton

According to Clinton's former press secretary Karen Finney, the former first lady was never interested in being Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's running mate. "She said it fairly consistently," said Finney. "She has been very consistent on that. She was fairly consistent about not running in '04, and then she didn't run in '04."

Dr. Mahmood Monshipouri, professor of political science of Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, believes that Mrs. Clinton is interested in the presidency but will run only when the time is right.

"I don't believe she is not interested in the position. She is interested in politics. She enjoys politics. She probably calculated and became convinced that this is not the right time to run," Monshipouri said.

He added that Mrs. Clinton may have seen the war on terrorism as a discouraging factor to mounting a candidacy this year.

"She felt like if she gets in this race then her hands will be tied up in terrorism, and that will put enormous pressure on the way she wants to run the country," Monshipouri said, adding that Clinton wants to run a country where she can "shift the debate from foreign policy to domestic policy."

There is growing speculation about whether Mrs. Clinton wants Kerry to win this year's presidential election because of the fact that a Kerry win in 2004 would almost certainly eliminate her as a candidate in 2008.

But Finney said the New York senator "is happy to do whatever it is John Kerry will ask of her in terms of campaigning to support the ticket." She said Mrs. Clinton is a devoted senator and, for the time being, is focused only on serving the people of New York.

"She is as excited as all Democrats today about the announcement of John Edwards added to the ticket. And I know she is committed to serving her time in the Senate and representing the people of New York State. That is what she said she's been committed to doing and that is what she's been doing," said Finney.

But Hillary Clinton's political future is unlikely to be limited by her job on behalf of the Empire State, according to Monshipouri.

"By being senator from the state of New York, I think she has intentionally given the impression that she wants to stay at the center stage of American politics," he said. "I see her right in the thick of the American politics. She will always work on an opportunity to step in when the time is right, according to her calculations," added Monshipouri.  source

The New York Daily News quoted the seer, Carmen Harra, as having earlier predicted that Hillary would enter the U.S. Senate.

Carmen also said that Hillary will face a female Republican candidate. "There's someone younger than Hillary, 10 years younger, 12 years younger, that is not so well known at this point. Geographically, [she] is from the South," Harra was quoted as saying.

The Senator's campaign advisor, Pamela Hayes, had introduced Harra to Hillary. The seer has also advised Jennifer Lopez, Candice Bergen and Courteney Cox Arquette. (ANI)

Kerry canceled his speech to the teachers union to meet with his new running mate, Sen. John Edwards.

Filling in for Kerry was Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

She told the delegates if they want enough money to make school reforms work, they should support the Democratic ticket.

Clinton told the teachers if George Bush were one of their students, "You'd be sending home notes to his mother that read, "Dear Mrs. Bush, he never admits when he's wrong."