Obama Courts Southside Virginia

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Obama Speaks on Economy in Va.

Days before the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama focuses on the economy during a town hall meeting Wednesday in Martinsville, Va. Obama says the country cannot afford four more years of President Bush's policies.

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Davis and other Republicans predict that Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Obama's opponent, will carry the state with support from GOP strongholds in Southside and southwestern Virginia and elsewhere, as well as from moderate Republicans in Northern Virginia.

Wednesday marked Obama's third day of public campaigning in Virginia since securing the nomination in June. He is the first presidential candidate to visit the Southside area since President Dwight D. Eisenhower came by train in 1955.

Obama drew hearty applause here when he spoke about his desire to give tax breaks to companies that create jobs in the United States and stop tax breaks to those that ship jobs overseas.

"People feel like the American dream is slipping away," he said. "That's what's at stake in this election. We can't keep going in the same direction that we have been. We have to fundamentally change how America does business."

He answered half a dozen questions about immigration, education, incarceration rates and, of course, jobs from the handpicked audience of 300.

"I don't want a handout and I don't think the government should fix all my problems," said Brian McGhee, who was laid off in June from Smurfit Stone Corp., which manufactures cardboard boxes. "All I want is for government to stop hurting us."

Robert Denton, a political communications professor at Virginia Tech, said Obama is able to get the attention of Southside residents by focusing on the economy while avoiding social issues such as abortion, gun rights and the death penalty. "It's worth the effort, but a very difficult sell," he said.

Republicans have long prospered in this region. George W. Bush won Southside by more than 10 percentage points in 2000 and 2004. And when Democrat James Webb unseated Sen. George Allen (R) in 2006, Webb trailed Allen in Southside.

"Senator Obama's beliefs are out of touch with Southside Virginia beliefs," said J. Tucker Watkins, a Republican activist from southern Virginia. Watkins said Obama's policies on oil drilling, immigration and the economy are "wrong" for those in the area.

In 2001, Warner won the area with more than 52 percent of the vote after casting himself as a moderate Democrat who showed he could embrace rural Virginia by, among other things, sponsoring a NASCAR vehicle. His successor, Kaine, sought to follow in Warner's footsteps, garnering nearly 50 percent of the region's vote.

Warner, widely considered the front-runner to replace retiring Sen. John W. Warner (R), who is no relation, introduced Obama in Martinsville as "a man of deep faith." At times, the crowd greeted the former governor with more enthusiasm than the presidential hopeful.

Last week, Obama tapped Mark Warner to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.

Obama will campaign in Virginia again all day Thursday before flying home to Chicago, where he appears to have an open window on his schedule Friday, one of a dwindling number of days when he can announce his running mate. He is expected to campaign with the choice in Springfield, Ill., on Saturday. An Obama aide knocked down at least one rumor: that he was planning to campaign in Indiana, home of Sen. Evan Bayh, on Saturday. That is not the case, the aide said.

Obama, for his part, was mum. When he stopped to shop at a farmers market in Greensboro, N.C., on his way north toward Virginia, a reporter asked him whether he might still be shopping for a running mate. "How long did it take you to think up that question?" Obama replied.

Staff writer Anne E. Kornblut contributed to this report from Lynchburg.