By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Three candidates for President will be in St. Louis today. Al Sharpton will be at U-M-St. Louis at noon. John Kerry will be at Forest Park Community College this afternoon. And John Edwards will be at Blueberry Hill in the Delmar Loop tonight.
The state Democratic party was firmly behind St. Louisan Dick Gephardt before he left the race; party operatives have since split off to work on other campaigns, mostly for Kerry and Edwards.
I think much of what people admired about Dick Gephardt is they always believed he was a person who would fight for what he believed in," said Roy Temple, who is now running John Kerry's campaign in Missouri.
"And I think as people get to know John Kerry they're going to find he shares that characteristic."
Gephardt has not endorsed any candidate, but other politicians in the state have.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is endorsing Kerry; former Kansas City Mayor Emanuel Cleaver and Congressman Ike Skelton are endorsing Edwards.
Democratic St. Louis County Executive Charles Dooley says he's leaning toward endorsing Kerry. He plans to meet with Kerry during the senator's St. Louis visit today before making it official.