WASHINGTON – Democratic Party leaders Wednesday selected former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner to deliver the keynote address at their national convention in Denver this month, positioning him prominently in a weeklong lineup that seeks to pay homage to the party of the past while ushering in a new generation of leaders under Barack Obama.

The choice of Warner appeared to dim chances that the state’s current governor, Timothy Kaine, would be selected as the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee. If Kaine were chosen as Obama’s running mate, two Virginians would have back-to-back, prime-time speaking slots, which party officials regard as an unlikely scenario.

The convention, which begins Aug. 25, will be studded with old and new faces. Monday will feature an homage to the Kennedys. Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York will speak and Warner will deliver his keynote. Wednesday’s program will be devoted to military issues and national security, and it will feature Obama’s pick for vice president; two front-running vice -presidential candidates, Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Evan Bayh of Indiana, have speaking slots that day. Former president Bill Clinton also will appear Wednesday.

Thursday, Obama will accept the nomination before some 80,000 people jammed into Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium.

Kaine is slated to speak Tuesday, a day devoted to the economy and the environment. Democratic consultant Jenny Backus, a convention organizer, said most of the presumed vice-presidential finalists have been booked for speaking slots other than the running mate’s address. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, for instance, also is on the Tuesday program.

A source close to Kaine said Tuesday night – before Wednesday morning’s announcement about Warner – that the governor had seemed glum, and believed that he would “get the silver medal” in the vice-presidential sweepstakes. Obama’s decision to make security the theme of Wednesday night also is regarded by party observers as a subtle hint that Kaine and other governors without foreign policy credentials might be less likely choices.

Kaine had become the subject of intense speculation during the past two weeks, after reports that he had provided documents to Obama’s campaign and had told friends that the conversations about the vice-presidential job were “serious.”

But he quickly became the focus of sharp Republican attacks. One GOP source said on the day that story appeared that an Obama-Kaine ticket would be the “least experienced ticket in the history of the world.”