Virginians Fasten Seat Belts as Obama, McCain Dig In

Shortly before the GOP convention, McCain began airing TV ads on broadcast stations statewide, reversing his earlier decision only to advertise in the Washington media market, where his ads would be seen by political journalists and pundits.

And although he has been to Richmond and Northern Virginia for fundraisers, McCain was scheduled to make his first official campaign stop in the state yesterday with a rally in Fairfax City.

His advisers say he'll be back, and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is expected to appear next week in Virginia Beach.

Not wanting to be overshadowed by McCain, Obama's campaign on Tuesday announced that he, too, would be campaigning in Virginia yesterday.

Obama scheduled an event at a school in Norfolk to discuss his educational policy. Obama's visit to Norfolk followed a stop Tuesday in Southwest Virginia. This week marks the second time in a month that Obama has spent two consecutive days in Virginia.

The candidates' visits and ads are only part of the story. Out of public view, both campaigns are fighting for any attention they can get in the local media through surrogates and daily events.

On Monday, former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore and Del. Christopher B. Saxman (R-Staunton), co-chairs of McCain's Virginia campaign, held a conference call with Virginia reporters to discuss why they don't think Obama can win the state.

On Tuesday, U.S. senators Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) held a news conference in Arlington County to outline their views on why McCain and Palin are too conservative for voters in Northern Virginia.

The Obama campaign announced the noon news conference at 7 a.m., a possible sign that it was organized at the last minute.

Three hours later -- in an e-mail marked urgent -- the McCain campaign announced it was having a conference call for Virginia reporters that would feature U.S. Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R). Bolling and Warner talked about why they think Virginia voters will reject Obama on Nov. 4.

The presidential election is overshadowing the U.S. Senate race between Warner and his Republican opponent, former governor James S. Gilmore III, as well as the congressional races. After he picked up the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police on Monday, Warner spent a few minutes taking questions from reporters.

Three out of four questions were about the presidential race.

All the attention on Virginia is resulting in increasing acrimony between partisans, as evidenced by the uproar this week over whether McCain should be allowed to hold a rally at Fairfax High School.

After it was reported that the rally would be in violation of school policies prohibiting political events during school hours, dozens of angry parents phoned local, state and school officials. Some students and teachers at the Fairfax school began talking of walking out of class in protest.

All this, and it's only mid-September.

If the polls show a close race heading into next month, Virginia voters should get ready for a very bumpy ride.