Hello from Virginia. Yes, the "real" Virginia. To be sure, I drove to my local post office in Chantilly, Virginia to confirm that my mail would still get through if you added ",VA" behind the city name on my mailing address. They assured me that my county – Loudoun County in Northern Virginia- was still considered part of Virginia. I am very relieved because I am registered to vote in Virginia and I would hate for some McCain campaign vote suppressor to challenge me at the polls on election day because I don’t live in "real Virginia".
Today John McCain is in Northern Virginia (in Woodbrdge), stumping for votes. At the same time, one of his loyal campaign advisors was on MSNBC telling the world that Northern Virginia is not "real Virginia." Apparently, all of us in Northern Virginia have moved out from heavily Democratic Washington DC and taken over this region. Therefore, we aren’t "real" Virginians. As a matter of fact, the only person I know in Northern Virginia who moved out to the suburbs from DC is a Republican. Sadly though, she is not voting for John McCain.
For three decades I have seen this region grow. As I understand it, it is true that many people have migrated into Northern Virginia from out of the state. Those that have come here have come for one main reason – Jobs. Or as Barack Obama likes to call it: "J.O.B.S." Jobs in Northern Virginia – from the technology companies that have driven the internet revolution to the government contractors that dot the Northern Virginia landscape – have fueled Virginia’s economy for nearly 3 decades. Northern Virginia has become a melting pot as people from other parts of Virginia, as well as transplants from the red states and the blue states, have flocked here to stake a claim of their very own American dream. This is something to be proud of – not something to be belittled as the McCain campaign has been doing. My friends and neighbors in Northern Virginia are both natives who have grown up here, come east over the Shenandoahs from Luray and other small towns, come here after college from western Pennsylvania, and from rural Wisconsin, and from a small town in Texas, and from Minnesota, and from New York City, and many other parts of this country and from abroad. They have come to real Virginia seeking opportunity and a place to raise their families. They have come here, just as a lot of folks in rural Southwestern Virginia came across the border from West Virginia, and have become Virginians. They are all Virginia voters and on November 4th they will show the McCain campaign how real their votes are.
While the McCain campaign continues to insult us, the Obama campaign is talking directly to us. Barack Obama has been to Virginia multiple times, as has Joe Biden. I myself have seen Obama twice at his rallies in Virginia. In the Northern Virginia market, Obama’s TV ads – including a very effective ad on healthcare – are on nearly every channel. On my commute to work, I hear Obama ads on the radio. I see Obama/Biden bumper stickers on cars everywhere. From the McCain campaign, I hear radio silence and see almost nothing on television. I do however see three lonely McCain/Palin signs mounted on the median on Route 50 on my way to work – my sole brush with the McCain campaign in Northern Virginia.
The Obama campaign ground game here is impressive. Every weekend volunteers are out on the streets and knocking on doors canvassing. Still others are phone banking. There seems to be an Obama event nearly everywhere. My inbox fills up daily with invitations from local supporters for meet-ups, get togethers, canvassing events, rallies and other events. I even get email from "Northern Virginia Bangladeshis for Obama". There is enthusiasm here like I have never seen in any election in Virginia. Virginia – and, yes, Northern Virginia – is relishing its opportunity to make it an early election night on November 4th. This place is fired up and ready to go.
John McCain cannot win Virginia without getting votes from Northern Virginians. The way to get that vote is not to repeatedly insult Northern Virginians. Note to the McCain campaign: you want to have a culture war, fine. Have it in your own desperate minds. We here in Virginia will vote our pocketbooks and with our brains and send Barack Obama to the White House as the next president of the United States.
