BILLINGS, Montana (AFP) — New Democratic running mates Barack Obama and Joseph Biden will head on their first joint campaign swing after this week's convention, a bus tour of battleground states, aides said Wednesday.
The candidates and their wives, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, will fly from Denver to Pennsylvania Friday to kick off their "On the Road to Change" bus tour, according to a campaign statement.
The tour by the White House hopefuls will move on to Ohio Saturday and Michigan Sunday, two other rust-belt states that could prove pivotal to success in November's presidential election against Republican John McCain.
"Obama and Biden will meet with voters to discuss America's economic challenges and the Obama/Biden blueprint for change," the statement said.
Campaign officials said the running mates will attend the funeral Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio of Democratic congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who died a week ago of a brain aneurysm.
Obama's defeated primary rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, is reportedly set to speak at the service.
Aides said Obama and Biden are likely to campaign separately after Monday's Labor Day holiday, which marks the start of the Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota.
The McCain campaign meanwhile announced that the Arizona senator would address a midday rally in Dayton, Ohio on Friday -- amid indications from his aides that he will present his pick for vice president at the event.
The Politico.com website said McCain was also planning to hit Pennsylvania and Missouri during the weekend for joint appearances with his new running mate, in hopes of wrenching back the media spotlight following Obama's coronation at this week's Democratic convention.
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