McCain, Biden in Baltimore this weekend & next week

Posted by Jeff Quinton on September 18, 2008

John McCain and Joe Biden will be in town at the Baltimore Convention Center to address the annual conference of the National Guard Association of the U.S. McCain is to speak Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Biden appears Monday at 11:30 a.m.

Usually a sure bet for Dems and a lost cause for the GOP, Maryland isn’t on any presidential wannabe’s must-visit list. But the Guard constituency apparently has more pull.

“We’re certainly happy to have them here,” said Wayde Minami, spokesman for the state Guard chapter. He said the convention has been in the works for a long time, but the candidates confirmed their attendance only “within the last day or so.”

Biden’s appearance came as a surprise to some Maryland supporters, who had expected him at a lunch fundraiser in Baltimore at the very moment - 11:30 a.m. Monday - he’s supposed to address the Guard.

Lainy LeBow-Sachs, a longtime William Donald Schaefer aide involved in the fundraising event, said she’d already e-mailed invitations to the luncheon when she got news yesterday that Biden couldn’t make it. The fundraiser was rescheduled, with Biden due to appear Tuesday night at the Hilton next to the Convention Center.

Tickets are $2,500 a head, or $10,000 for those who’d like to get their pictures made with the aspiring veep.