Thursday, October 23, 2008
Parties ratchet up presence in Western Va.
Visits of high-profile Democrats and Republicans are being scattered from Vinton to Martinsville.
Photos by Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times
Ethel Kennedy (center), widow of Robert Kennedy, signs a book titled "The Rise of Barack Obama" for Jebet Kibogy (right). Kibogy is from Kenya and able to vote for the first time in the U.S. Also at the gathering were Roy Mitchell, who worked on Robert Kennedy's campaign staff in 1968, and Katherine Hanley.
Vinton lawyer Richard Cranwell (left), chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, plays host to a visit by Ethel Kennedy, whose husband was New York Sen. Robert Kennedy, assassinated in 1968. Kennedy compared her late husband with Barack Obama, saying that they shared integrity, courage and love for their country. Kennedy's son Max (second from left) also spoke during the visit.
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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may have been in Richmond and Northern Virginia on Wednesday, but surrogates ensured that he had a presence in Western Virginia, too.
Ethel Kennedy -- the widow of Robert Kennedy -- appeared with her son Max on Obama's behalf in Blacksburg and Vinton, while retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark stumped for Obama at the Jefferson Center in Roanoke.
And there are more stops on behalf of both presidential candidates in the coming days: Republican John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, will appear at the Salem Civic Center on Monday; Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, will appear at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville on Friday; and House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina is headlining an Obama rally at William Fleming High School in Roanoke this afternoon.
Much has been made of the Obama campaign's youth push, but Virginia Democratic Chairman Richard Cranwell spent Wednesday morning making sure the party's longtime members felt included as well.
About 70 Democrats crammed into Cranwell's Vinton house to see Ethel and Max Kennedy.
"There's a lot of folks who were here today who were young people in the '60s, were energized by her husband's campaign, and they wanted to come and be part of that history," Cranwell said.
Much like January's endorsement of Obama by longtime U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the appearance of members of the famous Kennedy family in Vinton came across as a kind of torch-passing.
Max Kennedy, 43, admonished the crowd to take part in what he sees as a historic moment: "When you look back on this time, these children here are going to study this election, just the way we studied Roosevelt's. And you're going to want to be able to say, not just that 'I voted for Barack Obama,' because they're going to ask you and their children are going to ask their grandparents, 'What did you do? What was it like? Where were you?'
"And you will never stand taller than when you look them in the eye and you say, 'I was there ... and I helped Barack Obama be elected president of the United States.' "
The visit to Vinton came after Tuesday stops in Marion, Wytheville and Radford -- and 40 years after Robert Kennedy toured portions of Appalachia to see the effects of "war on poverty" legislation.
Ethel Kennedy, 80, compared Obama with Robert and John Kennedy, saying they all had integrity, courage and love for their country. And she said Robert Kennedy would be overjoyed with Obama's success so far.
"He'd be clapping and dancing on the moon -- very, very happy, very satisfied, very proud of our country," Ethel Kennedy said. "Things have changed enormously, and people realize no matter what color, no matter what sex, we're all in the same boat."
Jan Therien of Southwest Roanoke County can still remember the first time she voted, casting her ballot for John Kennedy for president in 1960. After watching an "American Experience" program about Lyndon Johnson -- Kennedy's successor in the White House -- on Monday, she said she's starting to get that "same feeling again" with Obama.
"There's a passion there," Therien said. "It wasn't easy in the '60s, and it's not easy now. [But with Obama,] there's an optimism and a vision that collectively we can do this -- we can get there."
Shirley Jones of Goodview, who also voted for Kennedy, feels much the same way, comparing the two men: "I think in personality and the way they project -- it's like a rebirth, a change to what we're used to and from what we've got in Washington. Obama's like a breath of fresh air -- like Kennedy was."
Both Therien and Jones, incidentally, supported Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, but say they're now fully behind Obama.
A crowd of about 60 was on hand Wednesday evening for Clark's appearance at the Jefferson Center.
"Four crises in eight years is too many," Clark said, listing the war in Iraq, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, environmental disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Wall Street's recent economic instability as problems that might have been prevented or handled differently. "The old ideas aren't working."
Clark spoke for half an hour and fielded questions concerning military spending, defense against terrorism and American activity in Afghanistan.
Regarding McCain, Clark said he considered the Republican candidate a friend.
"I like John McCain. He's just not my first pick," he explained, and urged the crowd to actively support Obama but to do so in ways he felt might transcend red- and blue-state divisiveness.
"What pulls Americans together is much greater than what divides us," Clark declared.
mason.adams@roanoke.com 981-3253 neil.harvey@roanoke.com 981-3349
