| Saturday, October 17 2009 06:36:21 PM |
| Rain and drab, cold weather did not dampen spirits for Virginia’s Governor Tim Kaine, Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Creigh Deeds and Lt. Governor candidate Jody Wagner in Falls Church and immediate environs today as they spent time greeting supporters and checking out the neighborhood at four separate locations.
The tour began at Rubio’s restaurant on Columbia Pike, moving to the Mason District Park, to the Eden Center and wrapping up at the Merrifield Festival at the Luther Jackson Middle School. The most impressive stop was at Falls Church’s Eden Center, the largest retail shopping center serving predominantly the Vietnamese-American community on the entire U.S. eastern seaboard. Candidate Deeds was amazed to learn of the significance of the center, and the entire entourage wound up spending over an hour walking around the center, posing for photos, shaking hands and talking to citizens, including the proprietors of a number of the retail businesses there. Their host at the stop was State Del. Bob Hull. Learning about the stop at the last minute, Falls Church City Councilman Lawrence Webb arrived in time to greet Deeds, Wagner and Gov. Kaine. The manager of the Eden Center said that supporters of Deeds’ opponent Bob McDonnell arrived an hour earlier attempting to plaster the shopping center with McDonnell signs, but were ordered off the private property. At Rubio’s the entourage met leaders of the Hispanic-American community, and at Mason District Park canvassers for Deeds and Wagner gathered to meet their ticket before heading out on door-to-door campaigning. At the Merrifield Festival, the entourage was greeted by State Del. Jim Scott, Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth and Virginia Secretary Kate Hanley. They were greeted by chants of “Deeds Not Words” by dozens of supporters crunched into the foyer of the school. Others carrying McDonnell signs stood by silently. Groundwork for the whirlwind tour was laid Friday night at the Democrats’ combined campaign headquarters on S. Washington St. in Falls Church, where Deeds showed up to give an inspirational talk to a large room full of supporters munching on Flippin’ Pizza. He was introduced by State Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple and also greeted by Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner. He told the News-Press in an exclusive interview that the thrust of his campaign has shifted from “getting out the message” to “getting out the vote,” hoping that many of the 600,000 Virginians registered to vote for the first time last year by the Obama campaign will come out on Nov. 3, with the help of a motivated volunteer support base. Deeds also applauded the News-Press editorial in its Oct. 15 edition entitled, “No State for Old Prejudices.” |
