US:A row has broken out within the Democratic Party over the omission of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton from the list of prominent speakers at the Democratic National Convention in Boston later this month.
"It's a slap in the face, not personally for Hillary Clinton, but for every woman in the Democratic Party and every woman in America," said Judith Hope, a major party fund-raiser and former chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Party.
Ms Hope's view that it was "a total outrage" and "very stupid" to exclude Mrs Clinton, was echoed by other fans of the New York senator, who is very popular among Democrats but a divisive figure among voters in general.
On Tuesday, the convention chairman, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, announced that the prime-time line-up for the four-day convention would include former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, former vice president Al Gore, and Mrs Christie Vilsack, wife of Iowa governor Tom Vilsack.
Asked why the list did not include the former First Lady, Mr Richardson said "Senator Clinton will speak also. She's a major star in the party."
However, convention officials later said Mrs Clinton would only appear on opening night in a special group meeting with other women senators and was not expected to speak.
The omission of Mr Clinton puzzled observers as campaign officials said in May she would play a prominent role at the convention. Her spokesman said she was looking forward to attending the convention and working hard for the election of senators John Kerry and John Edwards - who would be likely to find himself competing with Mrs Clinton for the presidential nomination in 2004 if Mr Bush wins a second term. Meanwhile, another prominent Democrat omitted from the earlier list, Howard Dean, will speak after all on the first day, July 26th, officials confirmed. The former Vermont governor energised Democrats in the primary campaign with his anti-war rhetoric and has campaigned for Mr Kerry in recent weeks.
President George Bush, campaigning in Wisconsin yesterday, launched a vigorous defence of the war, emphasising several times that "America is safer" because of his decisive actions.
At a campaign rally in Wisconsin, he said Saddam Hussein was a leader who hated America, had attacked his neighbours, had used weapons of mass destruction and harboured terrorists.
The US Congress looked at the same intelligence and saw a threat, Mr Bush said, as did the United Nations which, he had warned, could become an "empty debating chamber" if it did not act.
Given the choice between acting or trusting the word of a "madman", Mr Bush said, to cheers, he would "defend America every time".
Mr Bush has reclaimed the advantage over Mr Kerry as the leader best able to deal with the international terrorist threat, according to the latest Washington Post poll.
It found that 55 per cent of Americans approve of his handling of the campaign against terrorism, up five points in the past three weeks. Some 51 per cent said they trusted Mr Bush to deal with terrorism, compared to 42 per cent for his opponent.
However, only 46 per cent of voters said the US was winning the war on terrorism, down eight points since April, and 53 per cent said the war in Iraq was not worth fighting.