by James Oliphant
TOLEDO, Ohio--Barack Obama Sunday refused to criticize opponent John McCain for taking a campaign trip to Mississippi even as residents of the Gulf Coast flee the approaching Hurricane Gustav.
Outside a Lutheran church in Lima, Ohio, where Obama attended services, he said, "A big storm like this raises bipartisan concerns and I think for John to want to find out what's going on is fine."
McCain is making the trip to Jackson, Miss. at the invitation of Gov. Haley Barbour.
Saturday evening, however, Obama had ruled out making a similar trip because he didn't want to interfere with evacuation efforts.
"The thing that I always am concerned about in the middle of a storm is whether we're drawing resources away from folks on the ground because the secret service and various security requirements sometimes it pulls police, fire and other departments away from concentrating on the job," Obama said Sunday.
"I'm assuming that where he went that wasn't an issue. We're going to try to stay clear of the area until things have settled down and then we'll probably try to figure out how we can be as helpful as possible."
To that end, Obama said his campaign would use its massive email fundraising apparatus to recruit volunteers or send donations once the impact of the storm is evident.
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