Gov. Bill Richardson laid out his foreign policy vision for America on Wednesday in a speech at NMSU. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)The headline prime-time speaker on Wednesday, Aug.27, of the Democratic National Committee will be Barack Obama’s
vice presidential nominee.

But it’s unclear whether that will be Gov. Bill Richardson. Obama’s campaign released a lineup of Aug. 27 speakers on Thursday and Richardson appears to be speaking that day along with Senators Evan Bayh, Joe Biden and Jay Rockefeller. But it’s unclear whether one of those listed will get the nod as the keynote speaker or whether the campaign is withholding the name totally. A call to the Democratic National Convention Committee was not immediately returned.

The Democrats announced yesterday that they’d chosen Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor who is now running for the Senate, to deliver the keynote address at the convention Aug. 26 in Denver. 

Other speakers at the convention include Bill Clinton and oft-mentioned running mates Govs. Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius and Tim Kaine; and Sens. Hillary Clinton, Claire McCaskill. Pundits are divided as to what the choice of speakers—and their day and time slots— means.

According to the Washington Post:

Obama’s decision to make security the theme on the night his running mate speaks is regarded by party observers as a subtle hint that Kaine and other governors without foreign policy credentials might be less likely choices.

But many still believe that Obama will choose Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who shares a political style with Obama, but also a short career thin on foreign policy. One plus for Kaine? After graduating from law school he spent a year doing missionary work in Honduras and he’s fluent in Spanish.

For more about Kaine, read this profile in Wednesday’s New York Times. And if you just can’t get enough of the guessing game, check out this story on MarketWatch. It focuses on Kaine or Bayh as the most likely suspects.