Obama Sailed Behind Galvanized Voters and Broadened Support

By Tim Craig and Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama's surprising 28-point win in Tuesday's Virginia primary, in which he piled up a larger share of the votes than in Maryland, showed his campaign's success in turning out voters and broadening his formidable coalition of supporters in the week since Super Tuesday.

Obama received 64 percent of the vote in Virginia, about the same percentage he got in his home state, Illinois, on Super Tuesday. He picked up a slim majority, 52 percent, of whites, doubling the percentage he got in neighboring Tennessee a week before and exceeding his support among white voters in any previous Southern state.

"I was thinking [Tuesday] morning, if we can win by more than 10 [points], we can say it was a solid victory," said Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), one of Obama's national co-chairmen. "The fact the margin ended up being what it was is spectacular."

Some advisers to Obama's challenger, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, appeared stunned by the loss. Larry Byrne, a veteran Democratic strategist from Fairfax County who was an adviser to the Clinton campaign, said they expected that about 600,000 people would vote in the Democratic primary. Instead, nearly 1 million showed up, a 130 percent increase over the turnout four years ago.

"I don't know how you look at it other than to say, he did an amazing job getting people organized," Byrne said.

Obama was the first candidate from either party to get on Virginia's ballot in November after volunteers submitted 20,000 signatures, nearly double the amount required. Many campaigns have to pay people to collect signatures.

Democratic leaders said that, despite the presence of Clinton's national campaign headquarters in Arlington County, the Obama organization was much quicker off the dime after it became apparent in early February that the primaries in the District, Virginia and Maryland would have an impact on the race.

Storefront headquarters for Obama started popping up across the state even before Super Tuesday. His campaign ran television ads in the state for a week before Clinton responded. On the eve of the election, tens of thousands of residents in majority-black neighborhoods received a recorded call from Obama urging them to vote.

Scott A. Surovell, chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, said the energy of the Obama effort was undeniable. "Incredible intensity among activists and young people," Surovell said.

A weekend canvass in Alexandria brought out an estimated 400 Obama volunteers, he said.

"You didn't see a lot of door-knocking for Hillary," said George Burke, chairman of the 11th District Democratic Congressional Committee.

Momentum helped Obama, too, after he won over the weekend in Maine, Washington, Nebraska and Louisiana. Late-deciding Virginia voters broke his way, exit polls showed, and those who already supported him turned out to vote because they thought he could win the nomination, strategists said.

"Clearly, the momentum is starting to matter," said Democratic strategist Steve Jarding, who is not aligned with either campaign.

One explanation for why Obama did better in Virginia than in Maryland is that Virginia voters don't register by party, so all voters could have participated in the Democratic primary. Strategists and party officials said Obama drew self-described independents to the polls.

Virginia appeared to be a nearly perfect state for Obama, the strategists said, with its African Americans, college-educated professionals, young voters, independents and disenchanted Republicans voting in the state's open primary.

Heidi Johannesen, 33, of Fairfax said she voted for Obama even though she has voted for George W. Bush. "I'm just looking for change," she said. "We are in desperate need of something different."

Kaine appealed to the same groups when he was elected. He said Obama's message of governing in a bipartisan way resonated.

"People have gotten so tired of the 'I am right and if you disagree with me you're either corrupt or an idiot' style of politics," Kaine said. "Obama is very strong on that point; he doesn't demonize people."

Obama recorded one of his top showings among white women and scored his first decisive victory among Southern white men. He lost to Clinton among white women by only six percentage points, and he beat the New York senator by 18 points among white men.

Obama beat Clinton for the first time among senior citizens. Swanee Busic, 65, of Reston voted twice for Bush but now sees herself as an independent. "I'm thinking Obama is really someone who's new, who's not so deep in politics," Busic said.

Although Latinos made up only one in 20 Virginia Democratic voters, Obama got 54 percent of those voters, neutralizing one of Clinton's core constituencies.

Obama dominated Clinton in nearly every region of the state, carrying 10 of 11 congressional districts. Black voters turned out in potentially record numbers; in the heavy black 3rd District, which stretches from Richmond to Hampton Roads, about 33 percent of voters showed up for the Democratic primary, and Obama won eight out 10 of those voters. Statewide, he won 90 percent of the black vote, his best showing outside Illinois.

"If you look at past primaries, that is just unheard of," Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-Va.) said of the 3rd District. "He really struck a nerve. It shows he can be competitive across the South, and if we can carry Virginia or another Southern state, the electoral college arithmetic is very problematic for Republicans."

Obama was also lifted by white voters. He won 54 percent of the vote in the 6th District, in the Shenandoah Valley, which is 85 percent white.

According to state exit polls, people 17 to 29 made up 14 percent of the electorate, compared with 8 percent four years ago. The heavy turnout among younger voters proved to be a major boost for Obama. He drew 72 percent of white voters younger than 30 and even higher percentages among black voters younger than 30.

In Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia, 3,918 people voted in the Democratic primary in 2004. On Tuesday, 7,676 votes were cast, and Obama won 75 percent of them.

"The university communities have burgeoned," said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the school. "They are major growth localities across the state that are attracting a Democratic electorate."

Polling director Jon Cohen and polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.