Associated Press
ST. PAUL -- Sen. John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, will campaign on the Iron Range on Tuesday, making him the only member of either party's ticket to visit there.
In announcing the visit Thursday, Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar said it's doubtful that his party's presidential candidate, John Kerry, will make it to the Democratic stronghold before Nov. 2.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign said Edwards would headline an evening rally on the Iron Range. The exact time and location will be announced later.
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have both spent time in northeastern Minnesota but haven't gone beyond Duluth. Kerry made it as far north as Cloquet, and Edwards gave a speech in Duluth prior to becoming Kerry's running mate.
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Both campaigns see opportunities in the region. The Iron Range's deep labor roots have made it reliable Democratic turf, but Bush has stressed moral issues and gun rights in an attempt to attract the votes of conservative Democrats there.
The Edwards event won't be the only major news from the Iron Range on Tuesday.
In Eveleth, the Wellstone Action group plans to unveil the preliminary design for a permanent memorial to the former senator, who was killed in a plane crash there just before the election two years ago.
Oberstar said he demanded that the Edwards stop not overlap with the Wellstone event.
"I insisted that this be a separate event, that the Wellstone memorial be a very personal, reflective, pensive remembrance of Senator Wellstone," Oberstar said.
