McCain To Attend Lance Armstrong Event In Ohio

July 24, 2008 9:48 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will hold a town hall meeting with seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong on Thursday instead of visiting an oil rig off Louisiana's coast.

The four-term senator will speak at the LIVESTRONG Presidential Town Hall at Ohio State University's Mershon Auditorium together with Armstrong, a cancer survivor. The event is part of the annual conference of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a bipartisan initiative to promote cancer awareness and research.

McCain was originally scheduled to make a pitch for coastal oil exploration on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. He was also supposed to meet with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who recently ended growing speculation about a ticket with McCain by saying he already "has the job he wants."

"The meeting with Governor Jindal has been postponed and we are canceling the trip to the rig due to weather," McCain spokesman MIchael Goldfarb said Tuesday, according to Politico.

McCain has suffered decreasing media coverage in the past week as Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), went on a 10-day tour of Europe and the Middle East. The presumptive Republican nominee has accused the press of "being in love" with his rival in a video launched early this week.

McCain is also scheduled to hold a fundraiser in New Albany, Ohio on Thursday.