PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon's profile at the Democratic National Convention may reach its apogee early on, when Michelle Obama's older brother introduces her Monday night.

Craig Robinson is the new basketball coach at Oregon State who took time out from rebuilding a suffering team to appear in Denver to advance the "mind-boggling" possibility that his brother-in-law could be elected president.

Robinson told Oregon Public Broadcasting there would be no surprises in his remarks -- or his sister's.

"The story is that there is no story," he said. "What you see with my sister is exactly what you get, and it's what we've gotten for 44 years, and what we'll get for the next 44 years."

AP

Michelle Obama's speech was designed to present her husband as the son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya who later left a family that she says was certainly not elite. Her half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, also is expected to have a role at the convention.

Robinson says he's still trying to picture his sister as first lady if his brother-in-law is victorious.

Another Oregonian who will be prominent is House Speaker Jeff Merkley, who is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Gordon Smith. Merkley speaks Wednesday along with other Democrats seeking to beat Republican incumbent senators.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a strong backer of Sen. Hillary Clinton, said over the weekend that he would skip the convention to hold a conference on energy. The state has 65 delegates.

Although there remained questions about how far some Clinton supporters would go to show their anger, Clinton backers such as 63-year-old Judy Sugnet of Salem said their ranks were closed.

"I will do whatever my candidate tells me to do," the retired state employee said.

"Personal agendas are subordinate to whatever your candidate wants you to do," Sugnet said. "Even if we are not as enthusiastic as others are about Obama, we are not voting for John McCain."