Barack Obama kicked off his general election campaign in Virginia on Thursday, spending time with three commonwealth lawmakers who are considered to be in the running as his vice presidential pick.
The newly minted nominee, by choosing Virginia as his first stop, also signaled the importance of the Old Dominion as a key swing state in the upcoming general election.
Obama made his first stop Thursday in southwestern Virginia with former governor and Senate candidate Mark Warner. The two appeared at a town-hall style meeting in Bristol.
The Illinois senator then capped off his Virginia tour Thursday night with a massive rally at the Nissan Pavilion in Prince William County, where Sen. Jim Webb introduced him to tens of thousands of people who waited hours to see him. Gov. Tim Kaine also joined him.
“Thank you, Virginia,” Obama told the cheering crowd, which interrupted his speech with chants of “Yes we can.”
All three Democrats could aid Obama’s candidacy if they are tapped for the ticket, but Webb has the most potential to land on Obama’s short list of potential running mates, political experts said.
Webb, 62, is a rising star in the Democratic Party, having won his Senate seat in 2006 after a come-from-behind victory against Republican incumbent George Allen. Besides having the appeal of choosing a candidate who won in a “purple” state, Webb has national security credentials that Obama badly needs to compete against Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, analysts said.
Webb was secretary of the Navy under President Reagan and, like McCain, served with distinction in the Vietnam War.
“Obama has almost no foreign policy, defense or military experience, and Webb has a ton of it,” University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato said. “And there is something appealing about putting Reagan’s secretary of the Navy on the ticket, especially when the left will like it.”
George Mason University political science professor Jeremy Mayer agreed that Webb has virtues as a vice presidential pick, but he said Kaine, 50, would be a better choice for Obama, if only his resume included national security experience.
In Bristol, Obama also lavished praise on Warner’s tenure as governor, saying he “put partisanship aside, turned a budget deficit into a surplus, expanded health care for children and made the largest investment in K-12 education in Virginia history.”
But the 53-year-old Warner is the least likely pick, Mayer said, in part because he is the front-runner in a critical race against Republican James Gilmore III to fill the Senate seat that will be vacated by Republican John Warner.
“Gilmore would do much better against almost any Democrat other than Warner,” Mayer said.
Obama is hoping to push Virginia into the blue column after 44 consecutive years of voting for Republican presidential candidates.
“He picked Virginia because it is one of the tougher purple states,” Sabato said of Obama’s campaign stops Thursday.
As for his VP pick, Obama told CNN on Thursday that “everyone needs to settle down” and let him make his own decision.
