My home state of Virginia, where I also work, will be choosing Democratic and Republican candidates for the White House today. There are also primaries in Maryland and Washington, DC.
It is expected to be a big day for Barack Obama and John McCain. And, today could be the final body blow to the the Mike Huckabee campaign.
Huckabee spoke at the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke on Monday for a crowd of about 600 people. "The Roanoke Times" said most of the supporters were the likes of Little League coaches, Sunday school teachers and blue collar workers.
Ruth Bellman drove about 50 miles from the rural town of Dublin to hear Huckabee speak. She said she was praying for a victory from the former Baptist minister.
Huckabee, who was endorsed by Jerry Falwell, Jr., also held rallies at evangelical churches in Lynchburg and Richmond.
Another former Arkansas governor, President Bill Clinton was also in The Star City. A far larger group of 1,200 people turned out to hear him speak at Patrick Henry High School. Health care was one of the central issues, he discussed according to "The Roanoke Times:"
"Raise your hand if you you someone who doesn't have health insurance," Bill Clinton said.
Both Obama and Hillary Clinton were to hold rallies in Roanoke. Obama's rally was to be at 7 a.m. (not a typo) at the Jefferson Center, but high winds in southwest Virginia forced both candidates to campaign elsewhere.
Hillary addressed political scientist Larry Sabato's Politics 101 class at the University of Virginia, according to "The Virginia-Pilot" (Norfolk, Va.).
Student Erin Garratt told the 'Pilot' that she was convinced to jump off the Obama bandwagon and vote for Hillary today.
When asked by another student about what she likes about the political process, Hillary said it was the personal experiences of meeting people, and having a chance to be invited into their lives.
The former first lady and New York Senator said she strongly supports the separation of church and state as well as embryonic stem cell research.
Obama opted to campaign in College Park, Md., on Monday, but his supporters travelled across Virginia to show support for his campaign.
I came across former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus (D) in Danville, Va. He told me that he thinks Obama has a chance to win traditional home states, like Mississippi and Louisiana, in November, should he win the Democratic nomination.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) was among the early supporters of the Obama campaign. Dan Balz of "The Washington Post" said Kaine might also have a chance at being on Obama's short list for a vice preisdential pick. His 18-year-old son Nat Kaine rallied for Obama in Roanoke, and he showed supporters his voter registration card.
Chris Cillizza of "The Washington Post" said Obama is expected to win decisively in both Maryland and Washington, DC. WDBJ-7, the CBS affiliate in Roanoke, said that Obama was beating Clinton by a 60-38 margin in Virginia.
Huckabee has closed in on McCain, but not enough to pull off the proverbial major upset.
The Arizona senator spoke at the Virginia Aviation Museum in Richmond with retiring Sen. John Warner and former senator George Allen, who lost his seat to Sen. James Webb in part because of his infamous use of the racial slur 'macaca' at a rally in the far southwestern community of Breaks, Va.
McCain gave a red meat speech which placed a major emphasis on continuing the war in Iraq and the fight agaisnt terrorism.
According to the "Pilot," McCain is courting the Christian conservative vote which primarily went to Huckabee by having Christian right leaders like former fringe presidential candidate Gary Bauer of Indiana speak during rallies.
The other candidates in the race are Democrat Mike Gravel and Republican Ron Paul. Of the two, Paul has at least achieved a significant degree of name recognition.
UPDATE (2/13/08): Obama swept all three primaries. At a rally in Madison, Wisc., last night, he said: "We're on our way." We'll see if Hillary can make yet another comeback.
On the GOP side, McCain expectedly won all three primaries, though Huckabee got an impressive 44 % (compared to McCain's 48%) in Virginia. Ron Paul got four percent of the vote in Virginia.
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