Sen. Barack Obama will hold an invitation-only event Wednesday in economically battered Martinsville, joined by former Gov. Mark R. Warner, who made inroads with rural Virginia voters.

Obama, set to accept the Democratic presidential nomination next week, will meet with workers and families who have been affected by what his campaign calls the "failed trade policies of the Bush administration, policies [Arizona Sen.] John McCain promises to continue."

Of the 134 counties and cities in the state, Martinsville has the highest unemployment rate, measured in June at 11.4 percent.

Obama is expected to make stops in other parts of Virginia this week as well, though no locations have been announced.

McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, and Obama are locked in a neck-and-neck battle in Virginia, whose 13 electoral votes the Obama campaign is clearly fighting to claim.

Virginia hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since 1964.

On June 5, the Illinois senator picked Bristol and Prince William County as the first stops of his general election campaign.

He campaigned in Fairfax County on July 10, discussing policies he said would help working women. On July 28, he attended a fundraiser in Arlington County.

Obama's campaign has opened 33 offices in the state and Obama's wife, Michelle, campaigned in Norfolk on Aug. 6.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine was an early supporter of Obama's and is reportedly on the short list of vice presidential picks.

Warner, a U.S. Senate candidate, recently was tapped to deliver the keynote address on Aug. 26, the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Warner could help Obama appeal to Virginia's rural voters. During his 2001 run for governor, Warner sponsored a stock car and sometimes traveled with a bluegrass band.

In 2005, while testing his own potential presidential bid, Warner traveled to Charleston, W.Va., where he said: "You can be a Democrat and like bluegrass, NASCAR and be a strong supporter of the Second Amendment."
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com