RICHMOND -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will discuss trade policy today at an invitation-only gathering in Martinsville, bringing his campaign message to a community that has been battered by plant closings and job losses over the past decade.

Obama will appear with former Gov. Mark Warner, a U.S. Senate candidate, at a town hall-style meeting in Martinsville this morning. He will make another campaign stop in Lynchburg with Sen. Jim Webb this evening. The Virginia events come just five days before the start of the Democratic National Convention and underscore Obama's efforts to win a state no Democratic presidential candidate has carried since 1964.

Obama's Martinsville audience will include workers and families affected by plant closings in the region, according to the campaign. Obama contends that Republican presidential candidate John McCain would continue the economic and trade policies pursued by President Bush.

"What Barack Obama will be talking about tomorrow is unfair trade negotiated by special interest lobbyists -- special interest deals that favor corporations over workers, agreements without labor or environmental standards that make it impossible for the American worker to compete on a level playing field," said Kevin Griffis, Obama's Virginia campaign spokesman. "At the same time, he'll be talking about his plan to reform the tax code to reward companies that create jobs here, not send them overseas."

Obama could find a receptive audience for his trade message in Martinsville, but a Virginia congressman accused the Democrat of "straight-out pandering" by promoting it in a community with the highest unemployment rate in the state.

"It doesn't take a lot of courage to go to Martinsville and talk about trade," said U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Fairfax County, in a Tuesday conference call arranged by McCain's campaign.

Davis said free trade has helped the high-tech economy of Northern Virginia flourish, and he challenged Obama to bring the same criticism to that region.

"What would be courageous is to come to Fairfax County, where you have 362 foreign-owned companies and tens of thousands of employees with foreign-owned firms ... and take the same stand up here," said Davis, who is retiring from Congress.

In response to Davis, Griffis said: "It's a shame that the McCain campaign is trying to pit Virginia communities against one another."

Sen. John Warner, who joined Davis on the conference call, said McCain's work on the Senate Armed Services Committee has been helpful to Virginia, which has a heavy military and defense presence.

John Warner, who was an early supporter of McCain's presidential bid, acknowledged that the presidential contest in Virginia is "a good, tight race."

But he and Davis predicted that McCain will have strong support from military veterans and do better in Northern Virginia than recent statewide Republican candidates.

Obama's trip to Virginia also has fueled speculation that Gov. Tim Kaine could be the Democratic vice presidential candidate. Kaine is considered one of a handful of Democrats under serious consideration for the ticket.

John Warner and Davis said they consider Kaine an able governor, but suggested that his lack of experience in national security and foreign affairs would weaken Obama's ticket.