Virginia
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This past weekend was going to be a big one for Virginia: visits from both presidential candidates and running mates were scheduled around the state. At the same time, Hurricane Sandy was also planning for a big weekend.
As a safety precaution, weekend appearances by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Vice President Joe Biden were canceled on Friday.
Biden and his wife and son, Jill and Beau, were scheduled to visit Virginia Beach Saturday. Romney was scheduled to visit Sunday before visiting Richmond 100 miles away. Both canceled their events in Virginia Beach to allow local resources to stay focused on hurricane preparedness and any emergencies that would arise.
Romney canceled other campaign stops in Prince William County and Richmond on Friday. Saturday night, Obama canceled a rally with former president Bill Clinton that was supposed to be held Monday in Prince William County.
Romney’s Virginia Beach stop will be rescheduled. There’s been no announcement about whether his stops in Prince William and Richmond will be rescheduled.
Hurricane Sandy hit on one of the two weekends the state had scheduled for in-person absentee voting. In Virginia Beach, one of the largest cities in the state, in-person absentee voting was put on hold for Monday, Oct. 29 at the municipal center, courthouses, fire stations and DMVs.
Virginia’s State Board of Elections advised local registrars to stay open unless it would endanger voters to travel to the office. The state has prioritized restoring power to registrar offices and the 2,500 polling locations around the state and state law allows the Board to designate emergency polling places, if needed.
Already, Gov. Bob McDonnell has announced the State Board of Elections will schedule supplementary evening and weekend in-person absentee voting times after the storm.
(via the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Daily Press)
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One of CNN’s latest election coverage projects breaks the voting numbers down and makes things slightly easier to visualize as the presidential candidates enter the final stretch of the election neck and neck.
The infographic page displays a national range across the top of the page with results of nine battleground states below.
Currently, the chart shows Romney leading nationally by one percent. Of the nine swing states CNN has coverage of, Romney has the advantage in Florida, however Obama has the lead in the other eight.
Take a look at the charts for yourself and check back for updates.
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Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Tim Kaine introduced President Barack Obama Thursday in Richmond by emphasizing the importance of Virginians’ votes in the upcoming election.
“Even a little bit more than four years ago, presidential candidates, they didn’t come to Virginia,” Kaine said to the estimated crowd of 15,000. “Republican candidates … didn’t need to come to Virginia and Democratic candidates said, ‘Why bother coming to Virginia?’ President Obama changed that in 2008 and he’s changed it so that now that everybody that’s running for president of any party has got to come because Virginians are important.”
Virginia was one of the stops on the President’s 48-hour blitz trip across six swing states with a stop in Chicago to cast his advance ballot. On Wednesday, Obama visited Iowa, Colorado and Nevada. Today, the president came to Virginia from Florida and still had stops in Ohio in Illinois before the two-day tour was over.
The state will also host appearances from Gov. Mitt Romney and both candidates’ runningmates in the next few days.
See The 12’s coverage of Obama’s visit to Colorado during his two-day tour here.
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This fight is going to be fierce all the way to Nov. 6 and neither side will concede Virginia. Obama doesn’t need Virginia, but wants it to deprive Romney of an easy path to 270.”
-University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato about what both presidential campaigns need to achieve in the last 13 days before the election. The candidates seem to agree, with appearances from the candidates and their running mates all happening in the next week in Virginia.
Tomorrow, Paul Ryan will campaign in Bristol and Charlottesville while Barack Obama visits Richmond. On Saturday, Jill and Joe Biden will visit Virginia Beach and Lynchburg with their son, Beau. On Sunday, Romney will visit Richmond, Prince William County and Virginia Beach. (via Richmond Times-Dispatch)
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President Barack Obama’s (blue) and candidate Mitt Romney’s (red) visits to college campuses since August 2012. An interactive version of the map can be viewed here.
President Barack Obama visited George Mason University in Fairfax for the second time this month on Friday to campaign before the Nov. 6 election.
It might seem Obama spends a lot of time on college campuses, but The Washington Post’s campaign stops map show that Obama has only visited one more Virginia college campus than his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney. Including appearances from their wives and running mates, the Romney and Obama campaigns have visited the same number of colleges since August.
While they may be tied on campuses, the Romney campaign (counting appearances from each candidate’s running mate) has visited Virginia five more times than the Obama campaign.
First Lady Michelle Obama has Romney’s wife, Ann, beat in Virginia. Since August, Michelle has visited the state 10 times while Ann has only visited five times. Most of Ann’s events are private fundraisers. Michelle spoke at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg on Sept. 13 and earlier in the year, on Jan. 11, she visited Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond with Jill Biden. Later, on May 5, Obama himself made an appearance at the university.
Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, has not visited any college campuses, but he did visit an elementary school in Wytheville on Aug. 14. Two months before, he spoke at Tallwood High School’s graduation in Virginia Beach. Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan visited Christopher Newport University in Newport News on Sept. 18, which prompted the school to take a second look at their demonstration policy.
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A Harrisonburg, Pa. man was arrested Thursday for eight felony charges and five misdemeanors related to throwing out completed voter registration forms. Colin Small worked for Pinpoint, a company that was hired by the Republican Party of Virginia to help register voters.
The Republican Party of Virginia’s chairman Pat Mullins released a statement following the arrest, saying they “will not tolerate any action by any person that could threaten the integrity of our electoral process.”
The arrest comes less than a week after Virginia’s voter registration deadline, which was Oct. 15.
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Illustration by Samantha Wittwer at The Commonwealth Times
Virginia Commonwealth University’s student newspaper, The Commonwealth Times, breaks down Virginia’s new voter ID laws for student voters.
The Virginia State Board of Elections also has a special page dedicated to helping college students prepare for voting on Nov. 6.
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![Photo and story by Craig Zirpolo for VCU’s The Commonwealth Times
Libertarian presidential candidate dares VCU students to ‘waste a vote’ on him
As recent debates clarified the choice between the two major candidates to voters, third-party candidates have struggled for inclusion. Though the American Civil Liberties Union and other interest groups and as politicians endorse his presidential campaign, former New Mexico governor and current Libertarian candidate for president Gary Johnson spent much of his campaign stop at Virginia Commonwealth University on Oct. 11 simply asking students to inform their peers about a third choice on Election Day.
“I want you all to know that I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could do a really good job as President of the United States,” Johnson said to open his speech to a crowd of about 200 students and Richmond residents on Oct 11.
Johnson’s Richmond visit marked his first official appearance in Virginia during his 2012 presidential campaign. After making a stop at the Maggie Walker Governor’s School, he gave a brief speech and answered questions concerning his views on Syria, the Second Amendment, drone strikes and Israel. Afterward, he met with his supporters for pictures and autographs.
Read more about Gary Johnson from The 12 here.
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Johnson spoke candidly about his professional career, from building his one-man handyman business into one of the largest construction companies in New Mexico to vetoing over 700 bills as Governor of New Mexico. He also tried to showcase his personal drive to potential voters with stories that included his scaling of Mt. Everest after breaking his leg in 2003 and a near-fatal hang-gliding accident in 2005 after which he used medical marijuana for three years to cope with the pain.
In an effort to inform his audience and bolster support, Johnson spoke about many of his specific views, including foreign non-interventionism, gay marriage as a constitutional right, repealing the NDAA and the PATRIOT Act, establishing a flat tax, holding Congress accountable for a balanced budget and ending trade embargoes to promote free market interests in Iran and China.
“How about challenging Democrats on what they are supposed to be good at, civil liberties,” Johnson asked during his speech. “And then on the other side…imagine Republicans griping about a Libertarian president who wants to spend less.”
Johnson summarized his views as socially liberal and fiscally conservative, which many attendees regarded as the clear advantage of his platform. “The whole event just exuded simplicity and sensibility and I can’t think of two things America needs more right now,” said VCU junior Rose Bono after the speech.
Though Gov. Johnson asked attendees to disregard traditional notions of “wasted” votes, some still weren’t convinced and were unsure of Johnson’s potential impact on the overall election.
“I agree with Johnson on some issues, it’s just the big picture (of the election) that makes me cautious,” said Trey McMillan, another VCU student who attended event.
Despite huge odds, Johnson was both impassioned and optimistic about his chances.
“What’s more of a wasted vote than voting for someone you don’t believe in?” Johnson asked the assembled group to close his speech. “If you ‘waste’ your vote on me, guess what – I might be the next President of the United States.”](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbz30ukbOY1rvm6bpo1_r1_500.jpg)
Photo and story by Craig Zirpolo for VCU’s The Commonwealth Times
Libertarian presidential candidate dares VCU students to ‘waste a vote’ on him
As recent debates clarified the choice between the two major candidates to voters, third-party candidates have struggled for inclusion. Though the American Civil Liberties Union and other interest groups and as politicians endorse his presidential campaign, former New Mexico governor and current Libertarian candidate for president Gary Johnson spent much of his campaign stop at Virginia Commonwealth University on Oct. 11 simply asking students to inform their peers about a third choice on Election Day.
“I want you all to know that I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could do a really good job as President of the United States,” Johnson said to open his speech to a crowd of about 200 students and Richmond residents on Oct 11.
Johnson’s Richmond visit marked his first official appearance in Virginia during his 2012 presidential campaign. After making a stop at the Maggie Walker Governor’s School, he gave a brief speech and answered questions concerning his views on Syria, the Second Amendment, drone strikes and Israel. Afterward, he met with his supporters for pictures and autographs.
Read more about Gary Johnson from The 12 here.
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The teacher from Las Vegas. The couple from Appleton, Wis. The autoworker from Toledo, Ohio.
You’ve heard of these swing-state every-men and women in stump speeches, major addresses and debates.
The Virginian-Pilot asked professors from universities around Virginia which archetypes of Virginia citizens President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney should reference to win over the swing state in Tuesday’s debate: A veteran, a small-business owner, a married mom and a Latino student.
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Real Clear Politics polls show that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is almost tied with President Obama in Virginia. Other polls, like Rasmusssen Reports report Romney with a two-point lead following last week’s debates and the Romney family’s multiple visits to Virginia. Romney’s wife, Ann, visited cancer survivors in Chesterfield County. Later that week on Friday, Romney visited the county for a rally. Last month, Romney’s son, Craig, visited the local campaign office.
Sandy thwarts big weekend in Virginia campaigns
CNN’s Poll of Polls shows Romney ahead nationally, Obama leading in several swing states
Pennsylvania man arrested in Virginia for throwing out voter registration forms
The four everyday Virginians who should come up in Tuesday's debate
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