Presidential candidates to take campaigns to the Dayton area

Dayton Daily News

LEBANON, Ohio — Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, will be in Lebanon for a morning rally Tuesday.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will also campaign Tuesday in the Dayton area, according to a Democratic official. More details on the Obama event are expected to be available later today.

The “McCain Street USA” rally will be outside The Golden Lamb restaurant at 27 S. Broadway. Doors will open for the rally at 7 a.m. More details will be available later. Those who want to attend should telephone (614) 441-8622 or visit ohio@johnmccain.com.

It will be the first Ohio campaign stop by the McCain-Palin ticket since the Republican National Convention last week in Minnesota.

In addition, a three-day bus tour of Ohio by military veterans stumping for the GOP ticket will get its start in Beavercreek on Monday.

Rob Portman, a former Bush Administration official and Ohio congressman, will introduce the four retired military officers slated to participate in the tour. Members of the group, Ohio Veterans for McCain, include retired U.S. Air Force officers Col. Tom Moe, Maj. Gen. Ed Mechenbier and Lt. Col. Paul Kari as well as retired U.S. Army Capt. Leslie Smith.

Portman will introduce the four at 2 p.m. at Beavercreek Veterans Memorial Park, 1911 N. Fairfield Road.

In January 1968, Moe, a Lancaster resident, was shot down, captured by the North Vietnamese and imprisoned in the “Hanoi Hilton,” the same prison where McCain was held after his bomber was struck by a missile in October 1967. Moe is chairman of Ohio Veterans for McCain.

Plans call for the bus tour to also make stops in Lima and Findlay on Monday; Toledo, Sandusky and Strongsville on Tuesday; and Canton on Wednesday.