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President Elect Barack Obama celebrated a remarkable victory Tuesday night after storming through the electoral college, including Virginia.
In a way, the commonwealth is a trendsetter: the first to elect an African American governor, and 20 years later the first southern state to go for Obama.
How did he do it?
Organization: Obama opened more than 40 field offices across the commonwealth, more than double what statewide candidates for governor or senate usually have.
Advertising: According to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Project, which monitors ad spending, Obama outspent McCain on the air in Virginia 4 to 1.
Attention: Obama and his running mate Sen. Joe Biden made 27 campaign stops in Virginia. A third of those stops were in Southwest and Southside Virginia including Bristol, Roanoke, Martinsville, Danville, and Lynchburg. In modern Virginia history, that was an unprecedented amount of attention by a presidential ticket.
Connections: Obama snagged the early endorsement of Governor Tim Kaine, who threw his full support and organization behind the Illinois senator.
Demographics: Virginia is shading blue, at least parts are. The election map proves this. the vast majority is still red, but those areas are more sparsely populated. Obama won the major population centers including Northern Virginia, parts of the Eastern Shore, and the college towns. Also, consider this: Democrats in Virginia now control the governor's mansion, both US Senate seats for the first time since 1970, close to a majority of the congressional seats, and the State Senate.
Put all of that together and you get a five point victory in Virginia for Barack Obama. Tuesday night he made history nationwide and in Virginia, the first Democrat to carry the Old Dominion in 40 years.
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