Sen. Barack Obama is heading to the heart of Rush Limbaugh country.
The Illinois Democrat — acting as if he is the party’s nominee while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton soldiers on — will hold an economic discussion today in Cape Girardeau, in the southeastern corner of Missouri. He will detour to Michigan, which, like Missouri, is considered a battleground state for the general election against presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.
“Senator Obama is still focused on winning votes and delegates in primary states — as evidenced by his schedule today — but we are also spending some time in battleground states going forward to make sure that voters know the real choices this fall,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, noting the candidate was in West Virginia and Kentucky yesterday.
Mr. Limbaugh, who has been taking credit for the prolonged and nasty Democratic primary battle, is from Republican stronghold Cape Girardeau. His brother and cousin live there, and the radio talk show host suggested on air yesterday that the senator take the 12-stop Limbaugh tour.
“I don’t know if Obama is going to be flying into Cape Girardeau or driving in from somewhere else, but if he flies into Cape Girardeau, there’s only one road out of the airport,” the host told his listeners yesterday. “The name of that road is Rush H. Limbaugh Jr. Drive, named after my father … The second tallest building in town is the Limbaugh Law Firm office building. You will not be able to miss that.”
On Super Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton of New York won Cape Girardeau County 57 percent to 39 percent.
The radio star has been crowing for weeks over what he dubbed “Operation Chaos” — encouraging Republicans to vote for Mrs. Clinton to keep the Democratic fight alive. Mr. Limbaugh, who once was a harsh critic of Mr. McCain, says Mr. Obama is the weaker candidate to face the presumptive Republican nominee in the fall.
“This Operation Chaos is going to deliver a landslide tomorrow for Mrs. Clinton in West Virginia. There’s no question,” he said yesterday.
Mr. Obama will stop in Macomb County, Mich., and will hold a rally in Grand Rapids. The appearances are expected to help him quell concerns over the state’s delegate fight with the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
The state’s January contest will not be recognized by the DNC because officials broke party rules by holding the primary too early. Mrs. Clinton has long called for a resolution, and the Obama visit to the state — where he pledged not to campaign this winter — will help him heal wounds before the general election. The DNC is holding a May 31 hearing to try to resolve the problem.
Mr. Obama yesterday sparred with Mr. McCain of Arizona over a proposed Democratic GI Bill, telling West Virginia voters that the Republican opposes it without mentioning that Mr. McCain has one of his own.
“It would provide every returning veteran with a real chance to afford a college education, and it would not harm retention,” Mr. Obama said of Sen. Jim Webb’s bill. “I have great respect for John McCain’s service to this country, and I know he loves it dearly and honors those who serve. But he is one of the few senators of either party who oppose this bill because he thinks it’s too generous. I couldn’t disagree more.”
Team McCain blasted Mr. Obama’s statement as “absurd” and said the McCain GI Bill is stronger than the Democratic version.
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