By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Three senior Bush administration officials will travel to the Cincinnati area next week to trumpet progress on jobs, education and homeland security.

The three election-year visits are unrelated. The energy secretary will announce a plan Monday to bring federal jobs to Cincinnati. Also on Monday, a homeland security official will tour the city's emergency dispatch center. And in Hamilton on Tuesday, the secretary of education will unveil a statue honoring Bush's No Child Left Behind Act.

Democrats said the statue unveiling was "a monument of evidence that they have failed to produce jobs and education funding for Ohioans."

"Three campaign stops in one day does not make up for 3 1/2 years of failed policies for President Bush," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Brendon Cull.

The visits to Cincinnati - a Republican stronghold in a battleground state - are reminiscent of the last week of March.

That's when Treasury Secretary John Snow, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt all delivered messages - on the economy, clean air and health care. The next week, Vice President Dick Cheney threw out the first pitch on Opening Day.

The events are:

• On Monday at 10:30 a.m., Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected to make a "major announcement" about bringing Energy Department jobs to Cincinnati related to "environmental management cleanup activities." With Rep. Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park, Abraham will also announce the award of a local grant. The Energy Department declined to give further details.

• Half an hour later in South Fairmount, Homeland Security Undersecretary Charles McQueary will tour the city's new emergency dispatch center - a regional war room in case of terrorist attack - with Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. There they will announce that the city has been selected to test new anti-terrorism and disaster response technologies.

The project is Cincinnati's most high-profile use of federal homeland security money, although Democratic Mayor Charlie Luken has complained that very little of that money has actually made it to Cincinnati.

The city will spend about $500,000 on a sleek, mission-control-like operating pit.

• On Tuesday, Education Secretary Rod Paige will stop in Cincinnati on his way to Hamiltonwhere he will commemorate President Bush's signing of the No Child Left Behind Act there in 2002.

Paige will appear with Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester, who was the chief author of the law.

Reporters Matt Leingang and Jennifer Mrozowski contributed. E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com