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Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden poses for a photo with a group of teenagers Thursday morning after speaking at Missouri Western State University.

A house divided prompted a local mother to excuse her son from school Thursday morning to see the Democrats’ pick for vice president speak in St. Joseph. Heather Hurst, of Savannah, Mo., and her son, Austin, sat among a crowd of roughly 770 people waiting to hear Sen. Joe Biden speak.

Mom’s an avid supporter of Mr. Biden’s running mate, Sen. Barack Obama. Her 16-year-old is rooting for the Republican ticket of Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “I asked him to come here. I want him to hear both sides before making a decision,” she said.

With the election less than a month away and Missouri’s emergence as a swing state, local Democrats hoped Tuesday’s visit would energize other races and to help sway independent voters.

“It affects the ticket from top to bottom,” said State Rep. Martin Rucker, D-St. Joseph, noting that Democrats lost momentum in 2004 once the Kerry-Edwards campaign pulled its focus out of Missouri.

Carol Miester-Canaday went to the rally as a 56-year-old who has never voted. She said her son, Joshua, volunteered for the Obama campaign and insisted she attend. On disability and with her husband under hospice care, the St. Joseph woman said her health insurance expires in February and has little chance of being renewed because of pre-existing conditions. She hoped her vote would make a difference.

“There’s not three classes of people anymore,” she said. “There’s either the low income or the rich. And the rich are all out for the rich.”

Mr. Biden spoke much of the economy Tuesday and described the middle class as an integral component to its success and the necessity of restoring it. He pledged to end the war in Iraq and pushed a platform of change, criticizing his opponent for a negative campaign and for backing President Bush.

Rep. Jason Brown, a Platte City Republican and vocal supporter of the McCain campaign, visited both of Mr. Biden’s events in St. Joseph and Liberty Tuesday.

“All the partisan politics aside, people are tired of hearing them blame someone else... At the end of the day, what have they actually done?” said Mr. Brown, co-chairman of Missouri Veterans for McCain.

But the vice-presidential hopeful’s words were music to supporters’ ears.

“All I can say is, ‘Wow,’” Sharon Kosek, a retired St. Joseph School District teacher, said of his remarks.

James Montee, whose law firm serves as the Buchanan County Democratic Headquarters, said Mr. Biden’s message was in tune with the current concerns of U.S. citizens.

“I think his focus on the economy was what St. Joe needed to hear,” Mr. Montee said.

Also in attendance was Mark Sheehan, a St. Joseph Democrat running for the statehouse, who said the speech came at a time of financial crisis that has put fear in everyone’s heart.

“This is a huge opportunity to redefine how government works,” Mr. Sheehan said. “I don’t have enough nerve to look at my 401k and it means something to me ... This is much more real than 9/11.”

Another House of Representatives candidate, Rick Oswald, of Langdon, Mo., described the speech as a morale builder for his race against Rep. Mike Thomson, R-Maryville.

“I’ve never seen any presidential campaign pay this much attention to this part of the state,” Mr. Oswald said, also referring to the Obama campaign offices scattered across Northwest Missouri.

Ken Newton contributed to this report.

He can be reached at kenn@npgco.com. Alyson E. Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com.