McCain going to E. Ky. to start push for rural votes

Sen. John McCain wants to start connecting with rural voters, and the first stop will be in Inez, Ky., (pop. 700) next week, reports Ryan Alessi of the Lexington Herald-Leader. Inez is located in coal country on the West Virginia border and is the hometown of Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan. While recent comments by Sen. Barack Obama — and the controversy over them — have brought some attention to rural voters, Kentucky GOP chairman Steve Robertson told Alessi the McCain campaign had been planning a visit to Eastern Kentucky before that.

“He wants to have an opportunity to let people in this area meet him, ask questions, even the tough ones, and have an opportunity to share his vision of how these communities can succeed,” Robertson said. “Sen. McCain’s focus is going to be to get out to a lot of communities similar to Inez,” the seat of Martin County (pop. 12,000). McCain is expected at 11 a.m. Wednesday at a townhall-style event. Kentucky's primary is May 20. (Read more)

The Associated Press describes Martin County this way: "In making his choice for a Kentucky visit, McCain will see firsthand a county with stubbornly deep pockets of poverty, though local officials point to considerable progress since President Johnson visited the county to declare his 'War on Poverty' a generation ago." (Read more)