I think Nancy Puffenfeffer is worried...

[babylonsister]

Obama renews push in SW Va.
He rips McCain's health-care plan in Republican territory

Saturday, Oct 18, 2008 - 12:09 AM Updated: 04:41 AM

By OLYMPIA MEOLA AND JIM NOLAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS

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No Democratic nominee has carried Virginia in 44 years. Obama's appearance yesterday was his third trip to Virginia in four weeks and his seventh since he locked up the Democratic nomination.

McCain, who campaigned Monday in Virginia Beach, returns to Virginia today for a rally in Prince William County.

Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., have stumped multiple times in Southwest Virginia, hoping to hold down GOP margins in the region.

"I think it shows a respect for this part of the country. We're in the middle of nowhere," said Blacksburg resident Hope Gruszewski, who stood on the civic center floor just steps from the stage festooned with Obama pins. "Can he win? Look at us!"

An early October Times-Dispatch poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. showed voters in Southwest Virginia preferred McCain to Obama, 54 percent to 39 percent, with 7 percent undecided.

Statewide, recent polls have shown Obama running anywhere from statistically even with McCain to 10 points ahead.

Obama was greeted by a deafening roar from damp supporters who braved cold rain for hours to get a seat.

"It was all worth it," said Kathleen Mahin, a 21-year-old James Madison University student who braved raw weather with her sister, Grace, after driving two hours to Roanoke.

"He just brings so much hope," she said. "Hope for our future."

more...

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-10-18-0132.html