Swing state scrapper
Virginia is one of the keys to the upcoming presidential election
Swing states — This map shows the swing states for the presidential election in November. Photo credit: Elliot Mosher
With the presidential election quickly approaching, Politico.com states that Virginia has become one of the most prevalent locations for the candidates to visit in an attempt to garner enough votes to win the state’s 13 electorates.
According to the Washington Post, Paul Ryan’s visit to Roanoke Aug. 22 was his sixth event in the state since being chosen as the Republican vice presidential nominee. He is planning to make another stop in Virginia later this week.
President Obama has also been in Virginia several times this year, most recently speaking in Charlottesville. The Obama campaign will be in Newport News today.
Before the presidential election of 2008, Virginia had spent roughly 40 years as a predominantly Republican state. According to Fox News, Virginia is now known as the “purple state.”
The new revolution of “hope and change” that Barack Obama offered convinced a majority of the state’s voters that he would be the best choice for president. Nationally, Obama’s party received majority control of the House and Senate as well.
However, according to a CNN article, 63 seats in the House of Representatives were taken over by Republicans in 2010, resulting in the “highest loss of a party in a House midterm since 1938.” At this point, polls are too close to call, and no one knows what Virginia’s turnout will be this year. Each candidate is doing his best to campaign across Virginia.
The “swing states” listed above account for 132 of the 538 electoral votes. In 2008, Obama won the election by winning the majority of these states. Election statistics are changing on a daily basis.
According to Liberty University government professor Stephen Witham, the advantage to campaigning in Virginia is simply being able to grab the attention of many voters at one time.
“You could cover the state in two days, and with a limited number of stops, you’ve basically covered the bulk of the population,” Witham said. “Even more important than just covering the bases is winning the election.”
“Whoever wins the White House will have to have Virginia in their column,” former sixth congressional republican chairman Trixie Averill said.
She claims that the number one reason why Virginia has become a swing state is because of the new demographic spread all across the southeast region: some are government employees, some are liberal northerners and some are just college students who have generally developed a more liberal mindset.
The 2008 election was the first presidential election that students here were allowed to vote from their college towns.
With 13 electoral votes, Virginia ranks 12th among the 50 states in electoral votes. As long as it has the potential to move the election one way or another, Virginia will be a swing state. This year, it is crucial for both campaigns to spend a lot of time in Virginia.