Gov. Matt Blunt and state Rep. Steve Hobbs, R-Mexico, will participate in a conference call Tuesday morning to promote GOP presumptive presidential nominee John McCain.

Blunt and Hobbs (a farmer and chairman of the House Committee of Conservation and Natural Resources) will be joined by McCain spokesman Taylor Griffin, a release said.

The call’s aim is to tout McCain’s “efforts to restore rural prosperity and improve quality of life.”

The call comes as the Democrats roll out a statewide rural RV tour — featuring former Gov. Roger Wilson, former Sen. Jean Carnahan and current Sen. Claire McCaskill, among others — to promote presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

The RV is to stop at the Sappington Farmers Market at about 11 a.m. Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan and his sister, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, are to join McCaskill at a news conference detailing Obama’s agriculture record.

Democrats have been emphasizing McCain’s vote against the latest farm bill, while Republicans are painting Obama as out of touch on issues — notably energy prices — high on farmers’ minds.