How Barack Obama captured Virginia
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How Barack Obama captured Virginia
President Elect Barack Obama celebrated a remarkable victory Tuesday night after storming through the electoral college, including Virginia.RELATED STORIES
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.
Reader Reactions
I agree totally ! The majority of these people are looking for a free ride, more more money to the non-working” from the “working poor” and the people that supply the jobs will HAVE to send their jobs over-seas due to the higher taxes… so bye bye more jobs. What non-thinking fools. Not my problem anymore, I am moving to my other house next week as promised. Hello Antigua !
I have only a few things to say about the way the presidential election turned out and even the senate election. I have always been proud to be a Virginian until now. How could a state or a country turn their back on someone who has served our country and elect some who never has never served? I wish that Virginia would split right at the Mason Dixon line and below that line would be named Real Virginia. Obama already said that the change he promised might not happen until his next term. So congrats to the ones who voted for him he is laughing all the way to the White House.
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