Obama says race is not an issue to most voters

By Olympia Meola, Media General News Service
Published: August 21, 2008

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama yesterday brushed aside claims that he’s too liberal to win in Virginia and suggested that his race will play only a minor role in his bid to capture the pivotal swing state.
I think that race is always a factor in the minds of some people, but I think that’s the tiny minority here in Virginia and around the country,” Obama said in an exclusive interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Obama spoke after a town-hall meeting at John Tyler Community College in Chester, where the Illinois senator, joined by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, talked about the economy before an audience of about 300 people.
“I think that people are looking for who’s going to fight for them in the White House.” Obama said. “And if they have confidence that I’m going to make their lives better, their children’s lives better, I don’t think they care whether I’m green or blue or polka dot.”
Aided by Kaine, one of his earliest and most enthusiastic supporters, Obama has made a big push in Virginia.
He has peppered the state with 33 campaign offices and supplemented television ads with four visits during his general-election campaign. All are signs that he believes Virginia’s 13 electoral votes are within reach; a Democratic presidential nominee has not carried the state in 44 years.
Obama spent the past two days talking about the economy. He visited Martinsville, which has the state’s highest unemployment rate, and Lynchburg, Chester and Chesapeake.
During the interview in Chester, Obama sought to dispel the notion he’s too liberal for Virginians by affirming his stance on several hot-button issues, such as his opposition to same-sex marriage and his support for Second Amendment rights.
“I am a strong believer of the Second Amendment,” he said. “Nobody’s going to take the guns of law-abiding Virginians away from them.”

He said that while he supports abortion rights, he believes abortion is “a moral issue” and that he put “a strong message” in the Democratic platform that “we need to do things to reduce the numbers of abortions, through support for adoption and support for mothers, and providing education and various strategies to reduce unwanted pregnancies.”
But convincing a majority of voters in a state that has held tightly to its Republican roots in presidential elections is Obama’s challenge.
He says that mathematically, he could win the presidency by amassing 270 electoral votes without Virginia’s 13, but he’s working doggedly to turn the state Democratic.
“The fact that we’re tied I think that sends a good signal about what we’re doing,” Obama said. “But it’s not going to be easy.
“This is a state in transition. Obviously the success of [former Gov.] Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and [Sen.] Jim Webb indicate that Democrats can win statewide, but it’s going to require everything we’ve got in order to pull this out.”
That likely will include more help from Kaine, who yesterday still was enveloped in running-mate speculation. Obama declined to talk his vice-presidential pick — an announcement could come as soon as today — but he said he has the “highest regard” for Kaine.
“I think the world of Tim Kaine,” Obama said. “He’s one of my earliest supporters, he was my earliest gubernatorial endorser outside of my home state, and he is a great friend of mine.
“He’s going to help me win Virginia — period.”
Olympia Meola is a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.