A Good Problem to Have

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

John McCain’s campaign just announced that it has been forced to switch venues for tomorrow’s event with McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin because of an “overwhelming response” from people hoping to attend. Supporters have been invited to go to local offices to pick up tickets or RSVP on the McCain web site.

Instead of the event being held at Fairfax High School it will now be held next door at Van Dyke Dyck Park. The McCain campaign claims that the response has been double what the field house at Fairfax High School can hold and moving it to the park will ensure that everyone who wants to go will be let in.

***Update***

The Washington Post is reporting that the McCain campaign was forced to change the venue because of complaints by school board members and parents of the Fairfax County School System. The McCain Campaign is holding to their statement that it was because of the “overwhelming response” not because of the protest. A Fairfax County School official told the Post that it was the campaign’s decision to move venues.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the event itself. The field house hold 6,500 people and the McCain camp has said that their RSVP’s were far beyond that number. We shall see if the crowd is more than the 6,500 number.

**Update ends***

This development follows a trend for McCain, since his pick of Palin as his running mate. Yesterday in stops in other swing states, lines of people waiting to attend the events, wrapped around buildings.

To be fair, this is a new problem for McCain and one that the Obama campaign has been dealing with almost since he began running. I covered his first visit to Virginia after Hillary Clinton dropped out of the race in Prince William County, which was held at the Nissan Pavilion. That venue normally holds rock concerts. Here is a photo from that event, which brought in somewhere near 5,000 people.

However, this is the sign of a trend that shows McCain is closing the enthusiasim gap. It is something that has long been one of his biggest problems, and a variable that the Obama campaign is hoping could help them steal a reliably red state like Virginia.