VIRGINIA….A couple of weeks ago a friend in Virginia emailed to complain that Barack Obama didn’t seem to be taking his home state very seriously. There wasn’t even an Obama office in Richmond yet! Then, a couple of days ago, he emailed to tell me that Richmond finally had its office. Hooray! I thought of him this morning when I read this in the Washington Post:
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign announced Wednesday that it is adding 20 offices across Virginia, an unprecedented effort by a presidential candidate and another sign that he plans to compete vigorously in a state that has been on the sidelines during past presidential contests.
….The offices, partially funded by the Democratic National Committee, are the latest signal that Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, considers Virginia to be a crucial component of his strategy for securing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Virginia has 13 electoral votes.
Plus there’s the news that Obama raised $52 million in June, a record number that seems even more dramatic than it is because the Obama campaign’s delay in announcing their totals had started fueling rumors that his fundraising was in trouble. If that was deliberate, it’s very shrewd showmanship indeed.
Anyway, Virginia is in play big time. That’s very bad news indeed for John McCain.
