McCain urges supporters to not give up hope

By NEIL H. SIMON, Media General News Service
Published: November 1, 2008

Republican presidential candidate John McCain urged supporters to "not give up hope" in the quest to win Virginia's 13 electoral votes Tuesday.

"We're a few points down, my friends. But we're coming back. The Mac is back," McCain said in what was scheduled to be his final campaign stop in the battleground state.

Polls have shown Virginia, which hasn't backed a Democrat for president since 1964, leaning toward Barack Obama this year.

McCain hammered Obama on taxes and political experience before a crowd of about 3,000 out-side Interstate Van Lines' headquarters.

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"The next president won't have time to get used to the office," McCain said. And referring to the Democratic-controlled Congress, he added: "I'm not going to let this Congress tax away your retirement."

Obama has promised tax cuts for people making less than $250,000 a year. The Obama cam-paign said McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin's combined three Virginia events Saturday showed the Republicans' "level of concern" about the Virginia vote.

"They realize they're in serious trouble," said Obama spokesman Kevin Grif-fis.

Obama has 74 offices in Virginia to McCain's 21.Obama has campaigned in Virginia 10 times since securing the nomination compared to McCain's five visits, and has one more slated in the Manassas area Monday night.

"Don't give up hope," McCain said. "Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit."

He called Fairfax County "key to this election." Fairfax represents one-seventh of the state's voters.

The McCain campaign started the day in Hampton Roads and spent the last week turning a mes-sage about protecting military spending into an argument about Virginia jobs in the state that depends heavily on defense dollars.

To former Virginia GOP executive director J. Kenneth Klinge, the message works because na-tional Democrats have gotten "cocky." Earlier this month Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., recommended cutting defense spending by 25 percent—an issue McCain is now using in a radio ad in Hampton Roads.

"Their whole message is, 'You want to lose your job, vote for this guy [Obama]," said Klinge. "That ain't a hard message. That goes way beyond the [Republican] base."

McCain's outreach to military families late in the race is a "sign of weakness," according to Toni Travis, a political scientist at George Mason University.

"While McCain is saying you must vote Republican and support the military, Obama is talking to middle-class families," Travis said, "and those families ... need help."

At a 7-Eleven store barely a mile from McCain's rally, Richard Davidson of Burke, a federal government worker and lifelong Republican, said: "This will be my first time I can't vote Republican."

"I can't put Palin in the White House," he said.

Neil H. Simon is a multimedia reporter at Media General's Washington bureau.

But to supporters at McCain's rally, the Palin choice is exactly what energized them about the Republican ticket.

"I really like Sarah and I like the policies they stand for, especially life," said Pam Heminger of Burke.

Aiming to excite supporters, Republican Josee Cox of Great Falls planned a pre-election party of "drinking spirits and raising spirits" Saturday.

To win Virginia, she said, voters need to be told to "go with the person you know."

On Monday, McCain plans to race around 14 states. He is scheduled to campaign for Southwest-ern Virginia voters one last time through a stop at the Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville, Tenn., near Bristol.

Neil H. Simon is a multimedia reporter at Media General's Washington bureau.