Battling on the Other Side's Turf

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Obama Rural

A small town in Southern Virginia is the unlikely home to one of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign offices.

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Chase City, 80 miles southwest of Richmond, is where the Obama campaign decided to concentrate its forces for the Southside battle. It is a town of 2,457 people, according to Census Bureau figures, and is 54 percent white and 45 percent black. Those demographics have not put a dent in the GOP hold on the region, but Obama volunteers are hoping that a surge in black voter turnout will help this time. Not to mention some surprises. Former longtime mayor A. Duke Reid, whom volunteers had counted as a McCain supporter, recently indicated he was backing the senator from Illinois instead. Looking back on his 10 years as mayor, Reid linked his service to what he believes Obama is trying to do through his candidacy. "I guess the biggest thing I've always wanted in Chase City is to make sure we had no racial divides," said Reid, who is white. "There's not a single black person in town who could say I'm pro-white."

Chase City sees itself as an ideal retirement community: simple but affordable, with Main Street all spruced up, courtesy of a state grant and a $1.2 million renovation. The downtown streets are freshly paved, the concrete sidewalks redone to look like painted brick, the new street lights are fastened with flapping banners that read: "A city for all seasons." Amid the modern polish is the gritty country charm: Mom-and-pop general stores where you can get gas and fried chicken. A pawnshop that advertises loans without credit checks and cash in 15 minutes. The hot debate in town is whether to back or derail a planned ethanol plant in the county. And the hot item at the Main Street Cafe is the pulled-pork sandwich.

Finch Parker remembers when Chase City had three car dealerships, a shirt factory, a shoe factory, a soft-drink bottling factory, a department store. Of course, Finch Parker is 92. "Years ago, you'd ride the street to find a place to park," he said. "People would come from other counties to shop. Every Saturday. You don't see that no more."

Things changed, and Parker bought a farm four miles outside of town, but he still comes into town. Every morning at 7, you can find him at the Main Street Cafe eating breakfast in his jeans and boots. That's been his ritual since his wife died in spring of 2007. Breakfast in town, life on the farm. And he still trail-rides horses.

"I don't get tied up in politics," Parker said. "I leave that to the other man. That way I won't make a mistake." But that doesn't stop the people in politics from coming to see him.

Obama volunteers have been to his farm on multiple occasions, trying to lock down this one vote. Parker, whom everyone in town seems to know, might bring others with him, the reasoning goes. The volunteers usually catch him out in his yard, sometimes playing with his dogs or horses. "They tell me I've gotten too old to be fooling around with horses," Parker recalled. They also tell him "how the United States is in terrible shape," courtesy of the Bush administration, he said.

Parker set up a ring in his yard so local kids could be taken around for a loop on one of his steeds, just like at a carnival. One day Obama volunteers showed up with their children to ride Parker's horse. You've got to give them credit for initiative, Parker said. But he's not sure about voting Obama, or voting at all. "I've just got to study it out. Figure it out," he said.

While Finch Parker was being worked on, Obama volunteers were also paying visits to William Thomas, who has one dental practice in town and another nearby. The first visit was about a month ago. He wasn't home; they talked to his wife. The second time was a couple of weeks ago. Thomas was out cutting his grass. He told the Obama volunteer then that he was undecided. "I think what I'd like to see is a little bit of both of them," Thomas said, referring to Obama and McCain. Of course, a split vote is not possible. Joe the Plumber and concerns about taxes going up in an Obama administration has Thomas leaning toward McCain.

The Obama volunteers -- as many as 100 work out of Chase City -- are not easily discouraged. Some put in eight to 10 hours a day. Some make 600 to 800 calls a day. Some wonder how they even came to be there. Madolyn Hayne had been retired for 12 years when she got a cold call from Obama field organizer Steve Spencer in August asking for her help staffing the office.

"What do you need me to do?" Hayne replied.

"Come up to the office," Spencer said, "and we'll let you know."