By AP/KWMU
St. Louis – With Missouri up-for-grabs in the November presidential election, the state is continuing to get plenty attention from both campaigns.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were in suburban Kansas City on Monday, and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden will make two stops in Missouri today.
At the GOP rally, McCain and Palin criticized Senator Barack Obama for requesting nearly $1 billion in federal earmarks for the state of Illinois.
Obama requested $311 million in earmarks last year, but none this year.
Palin has also cut back on pork-barrel requests, but in her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million. That's the largest per-capita request in the nation by far.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden will appear at 9:30 a.m. in Columbia. Then he'll be at Mehlville High School in suburban St. Louis at 2 p.m.
This is Biden's first visit to Missouri since he was picked as Obama's running mate.