Obama rally draws thousands to Virginia Beach amphitheater

VIRGINIA BEACH

Sen. Barack Obama, making his second Hampton Roads visit in three days on Thursday, hammered on the issue that pollsters say is uppermost in voters' minds: the nation's sputtering economy.

Obama and his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, are fighting a down-to-the-wire battle for Virginia's 13 electoral votes in the presidential election, which polls say are up for grabs this year despite the state's 44-year history as a Republican stronghold.

McCain campaigned in Virginia Beach two weeks ago and plans a Saturday rally at Christopher Newport University in Newport News.

Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of 10,000 at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater, Obama seized on Thursday's news that the Gross Domestic Product, a key economic indicator, fell for the first time this year.

"Our economy is actually shrinking," he said. "Now, this didn't happen by accident. Our falling GDP is a direct result of eight years of the trickle down, Wall Street first/Main Street last policies that have driven our economy into a ditch.

"And the central question in this election is this: What will our next president do to take us in a different direction?

"Well, Virginia, if you want to know where Sen. McCain will drive this economy, just look in the rearview mirror. Because when it comes to our economic policies, John McCain has sat shotgun. He's been right next to Bush every step of the way."

"It's time you got a new driver," Obama said, linking himself to former President Bill Clinton, who presided over an economic expansion. He said McCain knows the Bush economic policies have failed, but offers nothing new in their place.

"That's why all he's doing is talking about me. He's spending these last weeks calling me every name in the book," Obama said. "Because that's how you play the game in Washington. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run away from. You make a big election about small things.

"Virginia, I'm here to say 'Not this time. Not this year. Not when so much is at stake.' Sen. McCain might be worried about losing an election, but I'm worried about you losing your home."

The crowd responded warmly to Obama's exhortations to get out and work on his behalf in the final sprint to Tuesday's election.

Myrtle Witbooi and Hester Stephens, who are visiting from South Africa, snagged seats about 60 feet from the stage. The women thought about Nelson Mandela, who had languished for years in prison for fighting the racially oppressive government at the time, then finally emerged and was elected as president of their country.

"We are proud to be here tonight," Witbooi said.

Jackie Jacobs and Angie Turkelson, two elementary school teachers from Hurricane, W.Va., flew in on Tuesday to help make phone calls and go door-to-door to drum up support for Obama. They made the trek on behalf of their group, the American Federation of Teachers, because they see Virginia as key to the election. They also see Obama as key to turning the American economy around.

"I see him as someone who could run our country and bring the change that we desperately need," Jacobs said.

People started gathering at the venue before 2 p.m., including moms Katrina Hill and Shirley Benton, of Norfolk. It was Benton's third Obama rally with her two daughters. She pulled them out of school early, as did Hill, who brought her five children. For Hill, 33, this will be her first time voting.

"I was never very political," she said. But that changed as the economy began to take its toll on the single mom, she said: She works two jobs.

"When gas prices almost got to $4, I almost screamed."

In Obama, she said, she sees sincerity and someone who is going to tackle the issues she is most concerned about - the economy, health care and education.

"I'm feeling it with him," Hill said.

Before the rally, crowds gathered, forming thick, snaking lines in the parking lot, bringing books for the wait and blankets for the chill. Families brought fried chicken and sodas, loaves of bread and chips.

Hawkers waved caps, buttons, "rally" towels with Obama's smiling face.

"I take Visa, Mastercard, Discover!" one vendor screamed. "I take credit cards and debit. I have wireless!"

Isabella Curlee, 7, held the hand of her grandmother, Peggy Rediger, as they looked at Obama buttons before joining the line to go inside. Rediger, of Norfolk, is a Navy wife and said many people assume that because she's military, she would lean Republican. But she said she has lived the policies of Republican presidents and they haven't been as beneficial as many think.

"Barack Obama has the youth and the vigor and the stamina to take on the job and get it done," she said, as Isabella listened closely.

Isabella, a student at Great Bridge Primary in Chesapeake, said, "He should be president because he's helping people."

Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com

Denise Batts, (757) 446-2504, denise.batts@pilotonline.com