Calling All Virginians

The headline today on The Politico is "Virginia GOP fears McCain could lose the state". Let’s make their fears a reality.

John McCain’s brother was in Loudoun County – my county – today. He called Northern Virginia a "communist country". To be more precise, he singled out Arlington County and Alexandria for scorn. Are you folks in Arlington and Alexandria going to take this crap from the McCains?

Why would Joe McCain make such a remark? Well, it appears that the polls may have something to do with it. The polls show that Barack Obama has a slight lead in Virginia. Virginia was supposed to be solidly Republican. But, on the strength of support in Northern Virginia Barack Obama has made Virginia competitive. The McCain campaign knows that if we get out to the polls on November 4th, Virginia will hand the presidency to Barack Obama. So, they are scared. They are drowning in fear:

Virginia Republicans are warning that John McCain’s prospects for winning a state that has been in the GOP column in every presidential election since 1964 could be in jeopardy. With Barack Obama treating the Old Dominion like a battleground state and reliable polls showing a margin-of-error race there, some are cautioning that McCain is making a critical mistake by allowing the Democratic nominee to outpace him in terms of visits and resources committed.

The two best indicators of which states the campaigns are serious about – time and money – tell the story.

Since wrapping up the Democratic nomination in June, Obama, his wife, Michelle, and his running mate Joe Biden have visited the commonwealth a combined 12 times. The candidate himself was in the Tidewater city of Newport News Saturday.

Obama is also plowing millions into Virginia, blanketing the airwaves with TV and radio ads, filling up mailboxes with leaflets and, along with the state party, operating 49 campaign offices.

Together, McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, have held just one campaign event in Virginia. And the campaign has taken its ads off the pricey Washington, D.C. network affiliates that reach into the entire swath of the Northern Virginia, the commonwealth’s most populous region.

“I think [McCain] needs to get here,” said Rep. Tom Davis, a longtime member of Congress who represents a Northern Virginia district. “I think they’ve got to pay more attention.”

Let’s help the Republicans out. Let’s throw them an anvil.

Tomorrow, Monday October 6th, is the voter registration deadline in Virginia. If you have not yet registered, and you want to part of an historic election, you have one more day to file your registration form. You can send your registration via mail or you can go to your local registration office. Visit Vote For Change or the Virginia State Board of Elections website to get the registration form and to get the process started.

After you have ensured that you are registered, throw one more anvil on November 4th by casting your vote.

We Virginians have elected a Democratic governor in 2005. We elected a Democratic Senator in 2006. On November 4th, with your help, we will elect Mark Warner our second Democratic Senator and Barack Obama president of the United States.