Decision Virginia

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

It is hard to believe that an election that has gone on for what seems like forever is now down to only a few hours. Remember polls open in Virginia at 6am and if you need to find your polling place, the State Board of Elections has a user friendly website that will tell you right where to go. 

As I talked about last night during our late newscast, the race has now shifted to a ground game. It is all about indentifying voters and getting them out to the polls. Virginia has never, ever seen a ground operation like this, which is why everyone is anticipating long lines at polling places. Today both Republicans and Democrats will hold rallies in support of their tickets. The goal of these rallies isn’t to convince undecided voters, it is to get confirmed supporters out to the polls. 

Here is what is happening in Richmond today:

Democrats-
Rally with Senate Candidate Mark Warner
Monday, November 3rd at 5:00 PM
VCU Student Commons Theater
Monroe Park Campus

Republicans-
Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson
Former Virginia Governor George Allen
Attorney General Bob McDonnell
Delegate Chris Saxman
Richmond Regional Victory Headquarters
2819 N. Parham Road

While that activity is happening here in Richmond, the candidates themselves are going to be in other parts of the state.
Sen. John McCain will headline a rally in Southwest Virginia. He will fly into the airport in Bristol, TN (which is just over the border) for an appearance at 11:45am.
Meanwhile Sen. Barack Obama, will hold his final campaign rally in Virginia, he will appear at the Prince William County Fairgrounds in Manassas tonight at 9pm.

And of course, don’t forget our Decision 2008 Election Special this afternoon at 4:30. You can watch it on NBC12 or if your haven’t left work yet, you can watch it streamed on your computer at nbc12.com. 

I’ll have updates all day so check back often!

Today will be an interesting one for a quiet stretch of Parham Road in Henrico County. The Obama-Biden campaign will be bringing Indiana Senator Evan Bayh to J.R. Tucker High School to pinch hit for Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden who was forced to cancel his appearance there because of an illness in the family.

What is interesting about this particular event is that it is happening right across the street from the McCain-Palin Richmond area headquarters. This was not lost on McCain supporters who held an counter-event of their own with former POW and McCain friend Paul Galanti. Our reporter Laura Geller is on the scene and sent me this picture of the scene there.

The Obama-Biden event featuring the Senator Bayh, who was at one time on the short list to be Obama’s running mate (remember that speculation) will happen at 5. I’ll share with you some pictures of that event later on.

There is some intrigue to these dueling events because of a story today from Politico that indicates that some high ranking Virginia Republicans are starting to get nervous that Barack Obama may be in a position to steal Virginia from the GOP. The story has quotes from Tom Davis and Eric Cantor, who don’t come right out and voice their frustration, but allude to the fact that the Republicans have not dedicated the type of resources the Democrats have.

The most stinging quote comes from an unnamed “Richmond based GOP-Operative” who complained that McCain “didn’t take threat seriously soon enough… One public visit since securing the nomination and I can’t tell you one significant surrogate who has come.”

It is interesting that this unnamed operative mentions the lack of high profile surrogates on a day like today where within minutes of Biden being forced to cancel, the Obama camp announced that Bayh would be taking his place. Not that Evan Bayh is Hillary Clinton, but the McCain campaign has not had anyone the likes of his stature here to tout McCain’s credentials. That in addition to only one significant visit since wrapping up the nomination compared to Obama’s visits which now number more than a dozen.

McCain’s Virginia supporters, including George Allen (who talked to many Virginia TV stations yesterday) seemed to hint that a McCain or Palin visit was on the horizon, but did not give any indication as to when or where.

There is no doubt however, that Obama’s relentless efforts to close the gap in the polls, coupled with a surge in new voters (voter registration ends Monday) have made this state a solid toss-up and leaves it very vulnerable for Republicans come November.

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

It is the last night of the Republican National Convention and the last day of big speeches. We will see if John McCain’s acceptance speech will come anywhere near Barack Obama’s incredible presentation or even the performance of his running mate Sarah Palin. Here is a look at what we have planned for tonight on air and on the web.

Joe Biden in Virginia- In an effort to counter program the McCain acceptance speech here in the swing state of Virginia, Barack Obama’s running mate Joe Biden will make his first appearance in the commonwealth. NBC12 was offered a one on one interview with Senator Biden, however our intense preparation for the coming storm and some logistical issues forced us to pass on the opportunity. We will still cover the event today and let you know what he has to say. 

Live Blogging During McCain Speech-  Just like last night during the Palin speech, we will have Kate Maxwell a Republican Delegate from Virginia on the floor of the convention giving us a first hand account of the event. It should be said, that Kate is a partisan delegate, so her perception of the speech will not be objective, but it still gives us an incredible live perspective of the event. 

Sen. George Allen- Former Senator Allen, is still a very influential member of the Virginia Republican Party. We will find out what he thinks of the Republican convention and what it will take to for the commonwealth to stay in GOP hands. 

State Sen. Don McEachin- The democrat state legislator is a strong Obama supporter and was at Denver for his speech. We will hear what he thinks we can expect and not expect from McCain’s speech tonight. 

Our coverage begins tonight at 5:30pm on NBC12.