Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has a unique place in the Barack Obama story. He's a personal friend--one of his sisters sang at Barack and Michelle's wedding--a political ally--they come out of the complex political mix of Chicago's South Side-and he's a national co-chair of the presidential campaign. He'll be speaking at the convention on Monday night--Michelle's night--as Obama's biography gets laid out for the country by some of the people who know him the best.

This won't be the first time Jackson has addressed conventions. He has before--to introduce his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The Obama convention will be the first in a generation that the senior Jackson does not have a slot on the podium.