* What: Sen. Joe Biden headlines the United Mine Workers of America’s annual Fish Fry
* Where: State Route 59, 237 Donnie Dean Drive, Castlewood, Va.
* When: The doors open at 10 a.m.; the program begins at 1 p.m.
* Who’s invited: Open to the public, no tickets needed
Source: United Mine Workers of America
U.S. Sen. Joe Biden’s planned stop in Castlewood, Va., today is the latest salvo fired in a fierce power play for a state and the presidency.
The visit by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s vice presidential running mate marks the party’s third foray since June into what is a traditionally Republican Southwest Virginia.
It also comes less than two weeks after Obama, of Illinois, addressed thousands at Lebanon High School. Obama’s first stop after securing enough votes for his party’s nomination was in Bristol, Va.
“I have not heard that [Obama has] hit any other area of the country that hard,” said Cordel Faulk, communications director at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, and commentary editor for the Richmond-Times Dispatch.
Sen. Biden, of Delaware, will headline the United Mine Workers of America’s annual Fish Fry alongside fellow Democrats Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher.
U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, have yet to tour the region, a possible signal of their confidence in holding votes here.
Republican views on coal, values and tax cuts for small businesses fall more in line with the region, said Bob McDonnell, Virginia’s attorney general and state co-chairman of the McCain campaign.
“They [Obama and Biden] don’t fit Southwest Virginia,” McDonnell said by telephone on Friday.
McCain has only nine campaign offices in Virginia, the nearest in Roanoke. Most offices are clustered in Northern Virginia, where there is a strong Democratic following, and in Hampton Roads, home of a strong military vote.
By comparison, the Obama camp has pitched 36 Virginia offices, clustered mainly near McCain’s sites, but also with locations in Bristol, Big Stone Gap and Castlewood.
This discrepancy is a sure sign of McCain’s overconfidence in his following here, U.S. Rep. Boucher, of the 9th District, said by telephone on Friday.
“There are more undecided voters in Southwest Virginia than any other part of the state in this election,” he said.
Virginia, with 13 electoral votes, has been a Republican stronghold for more than 40 years. But a recent New York Times poll lists Virginia as among the seven “toss-up” states. In all, the poll found that there are 79 electoral votes up for grabs in a race that most polls show is a dead heat.
Whether McCain or Palin will visit this part of the state remains unknown, said McDonnell, although he said he has requested that they tour here.
Obama, on the other hand, likely will revisit the region before the Nov. 4 election, Boucher said.
Asked why McCain hasn’t visited the region, while the Democrats continue to woo Southwest Virginia, Faulk said: “Maybe he [McCain] thinks Obama is on a fool’s errand.”
mowens@bristolnews.com (276) 645-2549
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