Obama hits red states; McCain in Mexico

FARGO, N.D. — It will be a red-state Fourth of July for Barack Obama, who hopes to find votes as well as fireworks in places that blue-state Democrats often bypass in presidential elections.

During the long holiday weekend, Obama is making an All-American swing from picnics to parades in reliably Republican corners of the country, states such as North Dakota and Montana. Neither state offers many electoral votes — three apiece — but appearances there give Obama the opportunity to argue that he can appeal to voters of all stripes.

“It may have been Woody Allen who said 90 percent of success is showing up,” Obama told a small but enthusiastic crowd of donors at a fundraiser Wednesday in Colorado Springs, the conservative heart of conservative Colorado. “If I didn’t show up, I wouldn’t get many votes around here. If I did show up, I might get something going.”

Upon arrival here in North Dakota on Thursday, he repeated the theme of the importance of showing up to play. “I believe the American people across ideological spectrum ... are hungry for something new,” he said on the airport tarmac.

Ohio and Missouri, which also went Republican in 2004 but are considered swing states, got Obama attention this week. A second trip to Missouri is scheduled for Saturday.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain toured Mexico’s holiest Roman Catholic site and received a blessing from its monsignor Thursday, the final day of a three-day Latin America tour.

The Republican presidential hopeful was meeting later with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, where immigration and trade were to top his agenda. McCain had a similar meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on the first leg of the tour.

McCain has said he planned to seek Calderon’s help in addressing illegal immigration. The Arizona senator has called for increased security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Democrat seeks support in GOP strongholds. Republican bolsters immigration, trade stances.

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