Surprise swing state Virginia brings out eager voters

By Chris Cermak Nov 4, 2008, 16:23 GMT

Manassas, Virginia - Virginia has rarely seen such excitement in a presidential election, but this usually reliably Republican state has become a key battleground in 2008 that could decide who gets into the White House.

As tens of thousands of voters turned out across the country Tuesday to choose between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, Virginia residents were particularly aware of their place in this historic election as they waited in line at polling stations.

'I've never seen activity like this,' David Albright, an 83-year- old World War II veteran who first voted in 1948, said at a polling station in Arlington, Virginia. 'There's much more interest.'

Obama held a slight edge in Virginia's opinion polls heading into Tuesday and hoped to pick up its 13 electoral votes in the country's system of winner-take-all, state-by-state contests.

His lead reflects both concerns over the faltering economy and demographic changes in the state's increasingly left-leaning northern suburbs that border the US capital Washington.

Both McCain and Obama campaigned hard in the state throughout the election campaign. Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden was to make a final campaign stop in Virginia on Tuesday - it will be the 16th trip made by Biden and Obama to the state.

But the fact that Virginia could fall to Democrats for the first time since 1964 has many Republicans worried the election is falling out of their grasp.

'I think it will be closer, but it's pretty clear what the outcome's going to be,' conceded Meredith Ellsworth, a 57-year-old Arlington, Virginia resident out volunteering for McCain.

Virginia's 'getting more and more blue,' she added, referring to the Democratic Party's colours.

In a testament to the changing electoral map this election, Obama chose Virginia as the sight of his last rally of the election campaign Monday night. He spoke before a crowd estimated as high as 100,000 in a park outside the city of Manassas.

'I just felt like being a part of history,' said 19-year-old Arnold Talbot, who waited nearly four hours to hear Obama speak.