Decision Virginia

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

There is no doubt that there is a lot riding on tonight’s Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. After a pretty even Presidential debate, it seems that this could be a make or break night for the McCain-Palin ticket. Palin’s sensational entrance on to the national scene has been muted after a few less than impressive interviews. If she stumbles tonight in front of what is expected to be a large television audience, the McCain camp may not be able to recover. 

We will once again, give you an instant idea of how Central Virginians are reacting to the Palin-Biden tilt. We will have our student reporters from Manchester High School liveblogging from a local Biden watching party and a local Palin watching party. I will be back at the NBC12 studios moderating the conversation, which you are welcome to take part in. Our coverage will begin right before the debate starts at 8:55pm. 

And once again, in the wake of another major campaign moment, the Obama-Biden team has planned yet another trip to Virginia. Barack Obama will visit Newport News on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how frequent these visits will be after the voter registration closes on October 6th. The Democrats are working hard to register new voters, because they believe the majority of new voters are their voters. 

It is also worth pointing out, that since claiming the nomination, the Obama team has visited Virginia many times, but have only been to Richmond twice. One visit by the candidate himself and one by his wife, Michelle. Could that be one of the reasons that he has not made the same kind of strides in the Richmond area that he has in other parts of the state?

That being said, Senator McCain has only been to Central Virginia once and that was only for a private fundraiser.

 Governor Tim Kaine, who has been relatively quiet in the presidential race, set off a verbal bomb today, that has already moved in some national outlets. He said that John McCain “phoned in” his VP choice of Sarah Palin. He made the remarks on his weekly WTOP radio show.

Here is what he said via the AP:

(Kaine) said McCain met Palin once in a large crowd, interviewed her by phone, then offered her the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket.

He said McCain knew so little about her that he had to crib her biography off her resume when he introduced her.

In Kaine’s words, “Most people would take hiring someone for a summer job more seriously.”

Tough words for a guy, who was passed over for the same job on the democratic side and certainly seems to be making the argument that Barack Obama knew him far better than McCain knew Palin.. and he still didn’t get picked.

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

The McCain camp has put out a dispatch featuring Virginians singing the praises of the Sarah Palin pick.  One name not on the list is Rep. Eric Cantor. I’ve reached out to his office to see if he has any opinion. His staff told the Times-Dispatch today that he is spending the day with constituents.

I also reached out to the McCain folks today to see if and when there will be a visit in the near future from either member of the newly formed ticket. All they would tell me is that they “can’t confirm anything right now.”

After the jump you can read the comments from the McCain “Virginia Leadership Team” Read the rest of this entry »