Bluegrass Legend, Ralph Stanley Cuts Ad for Obama in Va. - Campaign Ahead of Va. Registration Goal [View All]

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from Washington Wire: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/02/bluegrass-legend-cuts-radio-ad-for-obama-in-va/


Obama’s campaign is running a new radio ad in southwestern Virginia that features Grammy-winning bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley.

“Howdy, friends. This is Ralph Stanley, and I think I know a little something about the families around here,” the ad states.

“Barack’ll cut taxes for everyday folks — not big business — so you’ll have a little more money in your pocket at the end of the year. I also know Barack is a good man. A father and devoted husband, he values personal responsibility and family first.”

Stanley is a legend particularly among the kind of voters—rural, white, lower-income—that populate that region of the state and that Obama has had difficulties winning over in his campaign. As a testament to Stanley’s popularity, bumper stickers began appearing in the Appalachian region that read, “Ralph Stanley for President” in the late 1970s.

Clintwood, Va., is home to the Ralph Stanley Museum and a 2005 Roanoke Times story discusses his importance to the region.

“Ralph Stanley has long been a legend in these parts,” the paper wrote, “In the last five years, though, he has become something more than that; he has come to symbolize the timelessness and durability of this old music and this region.”

audio: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/new_obama_ad_in_south_stars_bl.php



Obama Campaign Clears its Va. Voter Registration Goal

The Virginia Board of Elections today posted new numbers showing the GOP nominee facing an unusually challenging climate in the state, which George Bush won with 54 percent of the vote in 2004. In September, the board reports, 106,150 people registered to vote in the state; combined with deaths and people moving out of the state, the net increase for the month was 101,737.

That is more than double the number of new registrants in August, and it places Barack Obama's campaign ahead its goal of making sure 150,000 Virginians got added to the rolls in the months since the primaries ended (on top of the 142,000 Virginians who registered in the first five months of the year).

As it now stands, there have been 163,000 voters added to the rolls during the general election period, for a total of 305,000 new voters since the start of the year. And a few days still remain before the Oct. 6 registration deadline. That compares with 210,000 new voters who were added between the start of 2004 and Oct. 1 of that year.

read: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/02/obama_campaign_clears_its_va_v.html