Blog For Arizona

Kerry/Edwards Campaigning in Arizona Soon

The Democratic presidential team of John Kerry and John Edwards will be in Arizona Aug. 7^th and 8^th making stops at the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and other locations in the northern part of the state.

The Kerry-Edwards visit is part of national campaign tour aimed at boosting support in battleground states like Arizona after this week's Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Kerry and Edwards also are scheduled to make appearances in Kingman, Winslow and Williams before heading to Nevada and Oregon as part of the national post-convention tour.

Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to be in Tucson Saturday for a campaign rally at Republican headquarters, where a counter-protest by Democrats is planned.

Kerry's visit to the Grand Canyon is expected to focus on Bush administration policies related to the environment and national parks. Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters are critical of Bush policies, saying they favor businesses and industry.

The Kerry stop in Northern Arizona will also focus on Democratic congressional challenger Paul Babbitt, who is looking to unseat business-backed carpetbagger, Republican Congressman Rick Renzi, in rural Arizona's congressional district one.

Arizona Democrats are energized by the party convention in Boston and hope to bring that energy back to the state, which is considered a battleground in this year's presidential tilt.

Recent polls show the Arizona race either tied or President George W. Bush with a varying lead. Bush carried Arizona in the 2000 race by 6 percentage points, but Democrat Janet Napolitano won the 2002 governor's race narrowly over the GOP's Matt Salmon.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 7/30/2004 11:50:00 AM