VP candidate Biden to speak in Columbia on Tuesday

COLUMBIA  — The line extended half of a block before the doors opened at Columbia Campaign for Change headquarters Sunday night, full of people hoping for tickets to see Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden speak in Columbia.

Biden will speak at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in a town hall-style meeting at the Activity and Recreation Center, located at 1701 W. Ash St. Doors open at 7:30 a.m.

The Columbia Campaign for Change handed out tickets for the speech from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday after announcing the speech to Democratic party supporters via e-mail around 4:30 p.m.

Sarah Martin, 24, said she heard about Biden's speech from the Boone County Democrats listserv.

"I'm excited," she said. "I think he's a good pick, a responsible pick. Anywhere that Obama lacks, he fills in."

Elinor Barrett, 55, said she was encouraged to see so many women lined up for tickets to the speech.

"I'm a woman who is not voting for Sarah," she said, referring to Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "I think the Republicans should not assume that women are going to vote for Sarah just because she's a woman."

Rebecca Martinez, 41, said she went to see Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean on Saturday and is excited to see Biden.

"I'd like to hear him refute some of the comments that were made about community organizers (during the Republican National Convention)," she said. "Wasn't the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. a community organizer, and didn't he change this country?"

The Columbia Campaign for Change plans to distribute more tickets from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday as supplies last. Tickets are free and open to the public.