It is at it should be with now only two weeks to go before election day. A full slate of an important and potentially pivotal political events take place on Tuesday as candidates make the sprint toward the final vote.

First- two new polls out yesterday, both good news for the Republicans.

*A CNU/WCVE/Virginian Pilot poll has Bob McDonnell running away with the election. The poll has McDonnell up 14 points and the rest of the GOP was up as well. The poll did not include so called “leaners”, meaning that the undecided pool was very large. As expected Democrats poked fun at the results.

*The second poll, released this morning by Clarus Research Group shows McDonnell leading by a comfortable 8 points. This same poll, taken a month ago showed Creigh Deeds closing the gap. In a release the poll’s director Ron Faucheux wrote that “Deeds has failed to gain sustained momentum,”.

*A third poll, from Public Policy Polling is expected to be released later today.

Secondly- Even though Deeds is behind in the polls today marks the start of a big push to get his voters to the poll.

*Today in Northern Virginia the Democratic Nominee will hold a rally with Former President Bill Clinton and his former rival Terry McAuliffe. The Macker, is back buzzing on social media sites this morning, pledging that Deeds will beat the odds and he will then win a bet he made with Republican strategist Karl Rove on Fox News Sunday.

*Deeds is also specifically targeting the African-American vote today with the help of the group “Black Women for Obama for Change”. This very engaged organization of African-American women worked hard to get the black vote out for Barack Obama in last year’s election. Today they begin phone banks across Virginia featuring prominent black leaders encouraging their community to come out to vote.

*The Deeds team is also attempting to get women excited about the Democratic campaign. First Lady Anne Holton and VEA President Dr. Kitty Boitnott will lead a bus tour through Central Virginia that talks specifically about education. The bus will make stops in Charlottesville, Petersburg and Richmond.

Oh.. and there is a DEBATE tonight…

*The final debate between Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds will take place tonight at Roanoke College in Salem. It will produced by our affiliate WSLS. The Debate will be seen in only a few television markets throughout the Commonwealth, but you can watch the debate streamed live on our web site NBC12.com.

We’ll have complete coverage of all of this activity throughout the day, including a complete recap of tonight’s debate on NBC12 news at 11.

The Republican nominee for Governor and Virginia’s former Attorney General, Bob McDonnell will be my exclusive guest today (Monday) on NBC12 First at 4. McDonnell’s opponent, Sen. Creigh Deeds appeared on First at 4 on Thursday.

McDonnell’s appearance comes with only about two weeks left in the campaign and on the heels of a bit of momentum for his opponent. Sen. Deeds picked up the endorsement of the Washington Post over the weekend and learned that both President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton will stump for him in Virginia prior to election day.

However, McDonnell is brimming with confidence. He has held a steady, if not commanding lead in the polls since the beginning and has become the poster child for the Republican recovery around the rest of the nation. We will touch on McDonnell’s role in national politics as well as getting his take on transportation, his controversial masters thesis and more today at 4pm on NBC12-TV. If you can’t get to a television in the Richmond area at that time, First at Four is streamed live on NBC12.com, and I will post the entire interview here on Decision Virginia soon after the program ends.

Former President Bill Clinton comes to Richmond in support of Terry McAuliffe’s campaign for Governor. Below are the details if you are interested in checking it out:

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MCAULIFFE TO APPEAR WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON IN RICHMOND, ROANOKE

This Monday, gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe will appear with President Bill Clinton at events in Richmond and Roanoke.

Monday, April 27

9:30 am-  Terry McAuliffe and President Clinton speak in Richmond
Richmond Farmer’s Market
17th and Franklin Streets
Richmond, VA 23219

12:15 pm-    Terry McAuliffe and President Clinton speak in Roanoke Fire Station #1
13 East Church Avenue, SE
Roanoke, VA 24011

—————————————–

We will have complete coverage of the former President’s visit on NBC12 starting at Noon and then again at 5 and 6pm.

The Terry McAuliffe campaign just released the details of former President Bill Clinton’s visit to Richmond and Roanoke on behalf of his campaign for Governor of Virginia.

McAuliffe’s campaign released the news of Clinton’s visit earlier in the week but the details were just finalized.

The former president will appear on Monday at 9:30 am at an event at the 17th Street Farmer’s Market in Richmond.

He will then travel with McAuliffe to another event in Roanoke that will be held 12:15pm  Fire Station #1 on East Church Avenue SE.

The former DNC chair describes President Clinton as his “best friend”.  Clinton has already held a fundraiser for McAuliffe and a visit to Virginia in support of the Macker’s campaign was widely anticipated.

This will mark Clinton’s third visit to Richmond in less than a year. He stumped for Barack Obama at VCU in October right before the election and was the keynote speaker at the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner this winter.

Clinton’s visits to both Richmond and Roanoke are free and open to the public.

After a 2008 edition that featured Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, it wouldn’t be too big of surprise if the Virginia Democrat’s 2009 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner took a step back. Well today they announced their headliner and its not too shabby. Former President William Jefferson Clinton will be the keynote speaker at the state party’s biggest fund raiser of the year.

(For more on the Clinton visit, the RPV and the race for Governor, click here)…

This will be Clinton’s second trip to Richmond in less than a year. He held a energetic rally in support of Barack Obama at VCU this past October. Tickets for the dinner are $175 a piece.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the isle, the rocky road continues at the Republican Party of Virginia. A key staff member stepped down today.  While the party continues it rehab in the wake of a leadership change and a series of damaging electoral losses, its prospects in the next Gubernatorial election seem bright.  At least according to the conservative Weekly Standard which has high hopes for Bob McDonnell.

And speaking of the race for Governor, Terry McAuliffe is already dipping into his deep piggy bank, releasing his first television commercial. As we talked about yesterday, it shows McAuliffe as a populist, reaching out to everyone (not specifically the Democrats that he must convince first) and giving the legislative process in Richmond a little dig.

You can see the ad below.

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Governor Sarah Palin comes to Richmond today to an event at the Richmond International Raceway Complex. There is no telling how big the audience will be, but organizers are planning for a crowd that could reach as high as 20 thousand. The doors of the venue are already open and event doesn’t begin until 2pm. Governor Palin and Senator McCain are speaking right now at an event in Virginia Beach.

Tonight during our early evening newscasts, our political reporter Rob Richardson will have complete coverage of the Palin visit. In addition to our coverage on the air we will stream the Palin visit on our political web site www.decisionvirginia.com. You can see the entire event there.

Also tonight in our late newscast, I will have a major interview with one of the key players in the race for president. Check back later to learn who it is that I will be talking to.

Meanwhile, in case you couldn’t stay up for our broadcast last night, here is my report from President Clinton’s visit to Richmond.

Tonight, coming up after the game, I will take a look at Hillary Clinton supporters and their slow wait to finally get on board with Barack Obama. It didn’t take me long to find Hillary supporters in this crowd that came to see her husband. The first two people I talked to told me they voted Hillary in the primary. I’ll go into it more tomorrow, but until then I will leave you with this picture from my view of the event.

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

Good Morning. Get Ready. The next two days will be a political whirlwind as high profile candidates decsend on Richmond for major rallies in the race for President. We will have complete coverage of both former President Bill Clinton’s visit to VCU tonight and Governor Sarah Palin’s rally at RIR tomorrow. Here is what we have planned on-air and online:

Sunday- I will be anchoring live from VCU for President Clinton’s rally tonight. The former President will be in Roanoke earlier in the evening and will then jet over to Richmond for a rally at 9:30 tonight. We will have a preview tonight at 6 and then a full report during our late news which tonight will be on immediately following Sunday Night Football. 

In addition to hearing from President Clinton, we will also hear from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. I spoke one on one with him this morning and we will hear about what he has to say about the campaign and the Clinton visit in particular. 

Online you can see President Clinton’s speech in its entirety streamed on decisionvirginia.com and I will have regular updates on what the former President has to say on my twitter page: twitter.com/ryanobles. 

Check back later tonight for a complete preview of what we have planned for Sarah Palin’s visit tomorrow.

The details have been announced for the Bill Clinton event in Richmond on Sunday. Clinton will start his swing at an event in Roanoke at 6:15pm. He will then headline an event at VCU that begins at 9:30pm. The doors open for the event at 8.

**UPDATE**

Full details on the Bill Clinton visit are after the jump.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oct. 9, 2008

UPDATED: President Bill Clinton to Headline Change We Need Rallies in Roanoke and Richmond Sunday

RICHMOND, Va. – Former President Bill Clinton will headline Change We Need rallies Sunday evening in Roanoke and Richmond.  On his first sweep through the commonwealth to campaign on behalf of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton will discuss Obama’s plans to jump start the economy, provide affordable health care to Virginians and bring a responsible end to the Iraq war.

Clinton, who campaigned for his wife Senator Hillary Clinton during the primaries, will outline the differences between Obama’s plan to provide a new direction for the economy, cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans and create good jobs here in the commonwealth and John McCain’s prescription for more of the same failed Bush policies that have landed the country in the current economic mess.

President Clinton was the first Democratic president in six decades to be elected twice – first in 1992 and then in 1996. Under his leadership, the country enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, including the creation of more than 22 million jobs, leaving George Bush with a record surplus that has since been squandered.

After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.

Additional details will be announced in the coming days. The events will be free and open to the public.

Details of the event below:

SUN, OCT. 12, 2008

Change We Need Rally with President Bill Clinton

Market Square
1 Market Square
Roanoke, VA

Gates Open: 4:45 PM

Program Begins: 6:15 PM

Public Entrances:

Corner of Jefferson St and Campbell St

Corner of Church Ave and Market St

This event is free and open to the public.  Tickets are NOT required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged.  Members of the public can RSVP at www.va.barackobama.com.

Parking is limited.  Please carpool.

Media Coverage: The event is open to the press.  For credentials, please visit www.barackobama.com/mediarsvp.

***For security reasons, do not brings bags.  Please limit personal items.  No signs or banners allowed.***

Change We Need Rally with President Bill Clinton

Virginia Commonwealth University

University Student Commons

Commons Plaza

907 Floyd Ave

Richmond, VA

Gates Open: 8:00 PM
Program Begins: 9:30 PM

This event is free and open to the public.  Tickets are NOT required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged.  Members of the public can RSVP at www.va.barackobama.com.

Media Coverage: The event is open to the press.  For credentials, please visit www.barackobama.com/mediarsvp.

***For security reasons, do not brings bags.  Please limit personal items.  No signs or banners allowed.***

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The Obama campaign has announced today that the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton will be in Richmond and Roanoke on Sunday.

There are no details as to where he will be and what time, but the campaign says they will release that information as soon as they get it.

As soon as I hear, I will share it with you. **Update** Advisory after the jump.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 8, 2008

President Bill Clinton to Headline Change We Need Rallies in Roanoke and Richmond Sunday

RICHMOND, Va. — Former President Bill Clinton will headline Change We Need rallies Sunday evening in Roanoke and Richmond.  On his first sweep through the commonwealth to campaign on behalf of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton will discuss Obama’s plans to jump start the economy, provide affordable health care to Virginians and bring a responsible end to the Iraq war.



Clinton, who campaigned for his wife Senator Hillary Clinton during the primaries, will outline the differences between Obama’s plan to provide a new direction for the economy, cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans and create good jobs here in the commonwealth and John McCain’s prescription for more of the same failed Bush policies that have landed the country in the current economic mess.



President Clinton was the first Democratic president in six decades to be elected twice – first in 1992 and then in 1996. Under his leadership, the country enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, including the creation of more than 22 million jobs, leaving George Bush with a record surplus that has since been squandered.



After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.



Additional details will be announcing in the coming days. The events will be free and open to the public.