Youngstown will be stop for Sen. Edwards

Kerry heads to Dayton and Columbus this week.
By JEFF ORTEGA and DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- U.S. Sen. John Edwards will make a campaign visit in Youngstown on Sunday, two days after the wife of a Democratic presidential rival visits the city.
Kim Rubey, an Edwards spokeswoman, said the North Carolina senator will come to Youngstown after spending two days in Cleveland and Columbus. The details of Edwards' visit are not yet finalized and neither is a location, Rubey said.
This would be Edwards' second trip to the Mahoning Valley as a presidential candidate. Edwards held a private fund-raiser in September at the house of a Canfield attorney.
Heinz Kerry coming
Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential front-runner, will make two appearances Friday in Youngstown on behalf of her husband.
Kerry will also visit Ohio this week but will not stop in Youngstown.
Also, a spokeswoman for Howard Dean, another Democratic presidential candidate, said there is a possibility that the former Vermont governor will visit Youngstown before the state's March 2 primary, but nothing has been finalized.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland will attend a Rock the vote Youngstown event at Youngstown State University on March 1.
Kerry coming to Ohio
After today's Wisconsin primary, Kerry heads to Ohio to talk about the economy and other issues in preparation for this state's primary election.
Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, was expected to be in Dayton on Wednesday around noon and then in Columbus at a campaign rally about 5:30 p.m., said Kathy Roeder, a spokeswoman for Kerry for President, Ohio.
"In Dayton, he'll be talking about the economy and job losses," Roeder said. "In Columbus, it will be a broad discussion about the alternative that John Kerry poses to George W. Bush."
Kerry will attend a private meeting with union workers at a United Auto Workers office in Dayton, aides said. Afterward, Kerry will attend a public rally at a Plumbers and Pipefitters Union office in Columbus, according to Kerry aides.
Whoever becomes the Democratic nominee, Republicans intend to fight hard in the Buckeye State for President Bush.
Republican Gov. Bob Taft, Bush's Ohio campaign chairman, anticipated a close fight between whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee and the president at the November election.
"Democrats will be contesting in Ohio," the governor said in a recent interview. "We're organizing right down to the precinct level."