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• Campaign Trail Runs Alongside Tobacco Road 

In the Southeast, the campaign trail often runs alongside Tobacco Road, making the tobacco bailout that Congress is putting together an important political issue in the region.

As the Senate on Thursday approved the $12 billion buyout for struggling growers, leaders of both parties raced to hand credit to folks who are not even in the Senate — yet.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the No. 2 Republican, singled out Richard Burr, a House member from North Carolina, for special praise for his work on the legislation without mentioning that Mr. Burr is currently running for the Senate. And Democrats said that Erskine Bowles, the former White House chief of staff who happens to be the party's candidate against Mr. Burr, helped persuade them to buy into the idea of tying aid to tobacco growers to new federal health controls on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.

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