Dem. Sen. Zell Miller to be GOP Keynote Speaker

[Roguish Lawyer]

Pro-Bush Democrat Keynote Speaker for Republicans

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retiring Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, who has backed President Bush for re-election, will deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention, Republican officials said on Thursday.

Miller, who supported Bush's tax cuts and has consistently voted with the Republican Senate majority against his own party, will speak on Wednesday Sept. 1, the third night of the New York convention, said Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee.

The keynote address at the national political convention is usually given by a major party figure or a rising political star.

The Democrats at their convention in Boston last month gave the job to Barack Obama, a young, black state legislator who is expected to win back the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois from the Republicans.

Miller himself was a Democratic keynote speaker at the 1992 convention that nominated Bill Clinton for the presidency.

The 72-year-old senator is retiring from the Senate at the end of his term in January. He served as Georgia governor from 1990 to 1998 and was appointed to the Senate in 2000 following the death of Republican Paul Coverdell and later won the election to fill out the term.