WHEELING - Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland talked "religion, guns and race" Saturday night in Wheeling while urging West Virginia Democrats to support the party's presidential candidate - U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Obama's vice presidential runningmate, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., meanwhile, will speak at Ohio University Eastern Tuesday, the campaign announced Saturday. Doors open at 2 p.m., and the event is set to begin at 4 p.m.
The Biden event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an online reservation is strongly encouraged. Those wishing to reserve a spot should visit oh.barackobama.com. Space is available on a first come, first-served basis, according to the campaign.
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Photo by Art Limann
Sen. Jay Rockefeller D-W.Va., left, listens to Gov. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, before the start of the Northern Panhandle Democrats Regional Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Saturday.
Biden's visit will come just two days after that of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who will appear at Brush Run park today. Gates to the Palin event open at 3 p.m.
Strickland served as keynote speaker Saturday night for the Northern Panhandle Democrats Regional Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, sponsored by the Ohio County Democratic Women's Club. The event took place at the McLure Hotel in downtown Wheeling, and attracted Democratic supporters from both Ohio and West Virginia.
Among those in attendance were West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin; U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Attorney General Darrell McGraw; state Supreme Court candidate Menis Ketchum and secretary of state candidate Natalie Tennant.
From Ohio, U.S. Rep. Charles Wilson, D-Ohio; and Ohio Sen. Jason Wilson, D-Columbia, also came to Wheeling for the event.
Strickland addressed those who say they can't vote for Obama "because he is a Muslim I heard that at my church."
"Obama is a Christian who went to a prestigious Ivy League school (Harvard)," Strickland noted. "Then he went to work for poor people."
"He takes his faith seriously, and we ought not tolerate those who tell us otherwise."
Strickland noted that he remembered similar comments made 40 years ago by people afraid to vote for John F. Kennedy "because he was a Catholic." He urged people to think of how much Kennedy did for West Virginia and the nation, and that Kennedy "wouldn't have been elected if not for West Virginia."
Strickland, a supporter of gun rights, said he recently spoke with Obama as to what he should tell those in Ohio as to Obama's stance on gun control.
Strickland said Obama assured him he respected 2nd Amendment rights.
"With John McCain, you may hold on to your gun but probably not your job," Strickland noted. "With Obama, you can hold on to your gun and you have a better chance of holding your job."
He noted that there aren't many African Americans in many parts of East Ohio and West Virginia's Northern Panhandle, and that people often "are more comfortable with what they are familiar with."
"This is the first time we have an African American at the top of the ticket," Strickland said. "I think we should celebrate that."