Ex-President Carter to help kick off Democratic convention

Former President Jimmy Carter won't be attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, but he will be giving a prime-time video address on opening night.

"Rosalynn and I regret that we will be unable to be at the Democratic Convention this year in Charlotte. However, we remain steadfast in our support for President Obama and the progress he will make in the next four years," Carter said in a statement released Tuesday by the Democratic National Convention Committee.

The statement also said Carter's Sept. 4 message to attendees would include "unique insights about President Obama as a global leader."

The 87-year-old Carter previously raised some eyebrows in an April interview with MSNBC when he said he would be "comfortable" with Mitt Romney as president because "in his previous years as a moderate or progressive, that he was fairly competent as a governor and also running the Olympics."

Carter later added in that interview, though, he believed Romney was too conservative for Americans and predicted Obama would be re-elected.

Romney, meanwhile, has never appeared too "comfortable" with Carter. Romney has invoked the 39th president's name multiple times on the campaign trail this year when discussing the economy and national security issues.

"It [the Obama administration] was the most anti-small-business administration I've seen probably since Carter," Romney said during a May campaign event in Virginia. "Who would've guessed we'd look back at the Carter years as the good ol' days, you know?"

Carter's term was marked by high inflation and slow economic growth.

Other speakers for the convention's opening night include first lady Michelle Obama and keynote speaker San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. Former President Bill Clinton will headline the following day.

Carter attended the 2008 convention in Denver, but did not speak.