MADISON — Sen. Barack Obama plans to stop Sunday in western Wisconsin, an area where he and his rival are competing hard for independent voters.

The soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee's visit to Eau Claire is part of a tour through several battleground states before next week's Democratic National Convention. Other stops include Iowa, Missouri and Montana. Obama will arrive in Denver on Thursday to accept the party's nomination.
The campaign released no details about the time or location of the event in Eau Claire. Also unclear was whether Obama would be joined by his running mate, who he is expected to announce within days.

Obama is expected to talk about his plans to change how Washington works and to stimulate the economy to help middle-class families, campaign spokesman Matt Lehrich said.

The stop will be Obama's second in Wisconsin during the general election. His last visit was in the northeastern city of Kaukauna in June.

Since then, his Republican rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has visited the state twice and cut into Obama's once commanding double-digit lead. Strategists from both parties say the race is getting much closer in a state where the 2000 and 2004 Democratic presidential candidates won by less than 1 percent of the vote.

Both campaigns are working hard to connect with swing voters in western Wisconsin cities such as Eau Claire, La Crosse and Hudson, where McCain held a forum with female business leaders last month.

Visits to the area also can win favorable media coverage in neighboring Minnesota, where the race also appears to be tightening as Republicans prepare to gather for their convention in St. Paul.

Eau Claire County has tilted Democratic in recent elections. Democrat John Kerry earned about 54 percent of the vote there in 2004. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle did better than that in his re-election bid in 2006, when Democrats also unseated three Republican state lawmakers.

Katy Phillips, chair of the Eau Claire County Democratic Party, called the economy the top issue for voters in the area, followed by health care and the war in Iraq. Obama has a chance to win rural voters who favored President Bush in previous elections but are upset with the direction of the country, she said.

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