Obama courts women voters in Fairfax campaign stop

BY AMY DOMINELLO
Media General News Service
Published: July 10, 2008

FAIRFAX, Va. – Desma Kelly has never volunteered for a political candidate.

But after hearing Barack Obama speak today at Robinson Secondary School, Kelly is planning to help get him elected this fall.

“I’m willing to work for his campaign,” she said.

Obama’s stop in Northern Virginia was targeted toward women like Kelly.

About 2,800 people filled the Fairfax school’s field house to listen to the Democratic candidate discuss his plan to give women more economic opportunities and balance the demands of work and family.

Obama said the issues he focused on Thursday affect everyone, but “we take for granted that women are the backbone of our family.”

He criticized his Republican rival John McCain for not doing enough to support policies that benefit working women.

Obama has intensified his outreach to women since he captured the Democratic nomination in June.  On Thursday, he encouraged the audience – a mix of women and men – to volunteer for his campaign.

Although the state has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, both candidates are investing time and money in Virginia.

On June 5, Obama kicked off his general election campaign in Bristol, a sign that he planned to compete in the state. Polls show the race between McCain and Obama is tight in Virginia.

“It’s wonderful to be back in Virginia,” he said Thursday. “We did well in the primaries in Virginia and we’re going to do well in the general election in Virginia.”

McCain acknowledged in June that he still has “a lot of work to do” to win Virginia.

“I do not take it lightly,” he said at the time. “I watched the results of recent elections in this state, so I do have a lot of work to do.”

School teacher Cheryl Perry of Fairfax said Virginia was prepared to support a Democrat for the first time in decades.

“I think this can turn into a Blue State,” she said.