First stop for Clinton is GM plant

Ted Kennedy could be
campaigning in the Valley
as early as Saturday.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit today to the Mahoning Valley is likely the first of a series of visits by her, her family and surrogates to the area.

There is already talk of Clinton and/or her husband, Bill, holding a public rally in the area as early as next week.

“I hope we’re back a couple of times,” said Isaac Baker, a Clinton campaign spokesman, about campaigning in the Valley.

Clinton was to be at the Lordstown General Motors complex at 9:30 a.m. today to meet and talk with GM employees and a group of invited area supporters, Baker said. The U.S. senator from New York will discuss the economy, the challenges facing the Mahoning Valley and how she can overcome those challenges, Baker said.

The event at GM is closed to the public. But a rally would be open to the public.

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in the Valley kicked off Wednesday with a meeting to organize supporters and volunteers here.

The campaign is looking for locations for an Obama headquarters that would focus on Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

The Obama campaign is sending U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, a supporter of the U.S. senator from Illinois, to the Valley.

Kennedy could hold an event in support of Obama as early as Saturday, said Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, Obama’s Mahoning Valley co-chairman.

Also, the presidential candidate is expected to make a visit to the Youngstown area before the March 4 primary, Williams said.

“It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when,” he said.

The Obama campaign hadn’t released a schedule of campaign stops in Ohio as of Wednesday. While nothing’s been finalized, Obama’s campaign expects the candidate to be in Ohio very soon.

Obama held a private fundraiser in Boardman on June 20, 2007.

With victories Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, Obama has 1,210 delegates compared to 1,188 for Clinton, according to The Associated Press. This is the first time since the campaign began that Clinton has fallen behind Obama.

A Democrat needs 2,025 delegates to win the party’s nomination.

Ohio and Texas are the next big primaries for Obama and Clinton with 161 and 228 delegates, respectively, at stake in the two states. Those two states along with Rhode Island and Vermont will hold primaries March 4. A primary in Wisconsin and a caucus in Hawaii on Tuesday are the only races between now and March 4.

Obama received the endorsement Wednesday of David Wilhelm of Bexley, who managed Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992 and is a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

On the same day Obama received Wilhelm’s support, Clinton’s campaign released its list of more than 100 elected officials and community leaders in the Buckeye State who’ve endorsed her. The list includes 13 from the Valley.

skolnick@vindy.com