AP Photo-Richmond, VA

RICHMOND, VA — In his final solo appearance of this campaign, Democratic VP Nominee Joe Biden shook hands outside Montrose Elementary School - a polling place just minutes from the airport.

Joined by Gov Tim Kaine, Biden worked a racially mixed rope line about 100 feet from the building - and told one poll watcher who came out to invite him inside that he’d been told that was as close as he could get. “If i came in, I’d be tempted to vote twice,” he said.

Lots of hugs and close talking along the rope line, as is his wont. He gave his Secret Service flag pin to one 6 year old boy who had taken a shine to it as they talked, pinning it on the youngster and spinning him around for the cameras to see. “That’s a secret service flag pin,” he said. “wear it with pride.”

The Delaware Senator also greeted two folks with Firefighters for Obama shirts on and thanked them for all their hard work, and signed more than one voter registration card.

Biden told reporters he’s feeling good. “I always feel at the end of the race that it ain’t over til it’s over. so we’re waiting ’til the polls close. right guys? ” he said.

As he walked off the line, one woman in an Obama t-shirt yelled “are you leaving?” over and over, dancing a bit and shouting “i’m so excited.”

In the parking lot, Sen. Biden visited with 19-year old first time voter Wayne Philips of Richmond, who suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia and was too ill to make it into the polls - so election officials brought the voting machine out to Philips in the parking lot.

Biden and family are now off to Chicago for a round of satellite interviews designed to help get out the vote - and to watch returns with Obama.

AP

SPRINGFIELD, VA — John McCain took aim Saturday at remarks Barack Obama recently made in which the Democrat said his faith in America “was vindicated” when he won the Iowa caucuses.

“We learn more and more about Senator Obama. He said the other day that his primary victory ‘vindicated’ his faith in America,” McCain said to boos from more than 3,000 supporters at his rally in Northern Virginia today. “My country has never had to prove anything to me, my friends. I have always had faith in it and I have been humbled and honored to serve it. “

Reviving a line that Obama has used repeatedly since his victory in Hawkeye State last January, the Democratic nominee told his Des Moines rally Friday, that, “on the day of the Iowa caucus, my faith in the American people was vindicated and what you started here in Iowa has swept the nation.”

UPDATE–2:50pm ET: Obama campaign response:

“It’s pathetic that John McCain would take a statement Barack Obama has been making for a year about his faith in the American people and distort it to attack his patriotism,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “Sadly, this is what we’ve come to expect from a desperate, dishonorable campaign that will say anything in a failed attempt to win this election.”

SUFFOLK, VA - The Obama campaign is kicking off the final ten days of what’s been a bitter ad war between the two candidates with a 2 minute spot outlining the Illinois Senator’s plan to fix the economy.

In the ad, called “Defining Moment,” Obama seeks to move beyond the question of “are you better off than you were four years ago?” to “will our country be better off four years from now?” Speaking directly to the camera, Senator Obama outlines his agenda to “lift our economy and restore America’s place in the world.”

In Suffolk, Obama’s running mate Joe Biden said the ad runs in distinct contrast to McCain’s strategy of attack, attack, attack.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Barack is going up with a two-minute ad starting tomorrow, the rest of this campaign,” he said. “You know how we’re finishing out the campaign? Barack is going up, instead of anything negative, we’re going up and laying out our plan to fix the economy. That’s what we’re running on.”

“What does the McCain campaign continue to do? They want to do anything but talk about the economy.”

AP Photo- Danville, VA

DANVILLE, VA – While John McCain’s campaign knocks the Democrats for failing to connect with the “Real Virginia” far from the state’s liberal DC suburbs, the Biden Express swung through South Central VA to prove them wrong.

“If nine visits between the two of us, Barack and me, doesn’t demonstrate how clearly Barack Obama and I plan on competing for every single vote here in Central, Southwest, Southeast Virginia, throughout all Virginia, I don’t know what I can say, folks. We need ya,” said the Delaware lawmaker.

By comparison, a Biden spokesman points out that McCain and Sarah Palin have visited the Southern parts of the state just twice.

Speaking to one of the smaller crowds he’s seen in recent weeks, Biden lit into McCain adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer’s “Real Virginia” remarks – calling them divisive. “Just the other day, one of John McCain’s advisers called some parts of this state, quote, ‘the real Virginia,’” he said. “Here in Virginia, you know that your commitment to this country doesn’t depend on what part of the state you live in.”

“I want to say it as plainly as I can. I’ve had enough. Our country has had enough of this brand of corrosive politics. It’s got to stop. It’s got to stop.”

He may be tired of the attacks, but that didn’t stop Biden from ripping McCain’s invigorated efforts to distance himself from George Bush.

“Johnny, Johnny, Johnny!” he said to applause. “John McCain’s now attacking George Bush for his budget and fiscal policies. Well I tell you what. Finally! Finally!”

“But John, where were you the past 8 years while this was going on? I’ll tell you where you were. You were voting with George Bush 90% of the time. And until recently, until recently John was bragging about it.”

“I never saw a guy run so far so fast from a sitting president in my whole life,” Biden continued. “And George Bush I’m told came out today, he voted early, and said he voted for John McCain. I guess that’s called returning the favor.”

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — John McCain says he is down in the polls but told more than 16,000 supporters today that they have the Democrats “just where we want them.”

“Let me give you the state of the race today and some straight talk. We have 22 days to go. We’re six points down. The national media has written us off,” McCain said to cheers in a packed convention center in Virginia Tidewater country.  “Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections…and concede defeat in Iraq.”

McCain was joined by running mate Sarah Palin for the rally as the GOP ticket is being forced to play defense in the historically Republican state (a Democrat hasn’t won since 1964) in the closing weeks of the election. The rally took place in Virginia Beach, among the places McCain will have to win big in in order to keep the state in his column.

“You know what they forgot? They forgot to let you decide,” he said to cheers. “My friends, we’ve got them just where we want them. What America needs in this hour is a fighter.”

McCain introduced the slightly retooled stump describing the sorry state of economic affairs and offered an issues-based contrast with Obama on the economy–removing his harsh indictment of the Democrat’s character which were central to his speeches last week. He warned that given the current state of affairs, there will be no time for a president to get on on-the-job training as “our enemies watch.”

McCain also compared Obama to Herbert Hoover, the Republican president who presided over the start of the Great Depression, chiding him for his opposition to the Bush tax cuts and a number of free trade agreements.

“The last President to raise taxes and restrict trade in a bad economy as Senator Obama proposes was Herbert Hoover,” he said to boos. “That didn’t turn out too well. They say those who don’t learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. Well, my friends, I know my history lessons, and I sure won’t make the mistakes that Senator Obama will.”

He also took a shot at President Bush’s tenure at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, noting that, “we cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change…we have to act immediately. We have to change.”

McCain concluded with his final crescendo from his convention speech, calling on his supporters to fight in the closing days of the election.

“I’m an American and I choose to fight. Don’t give up hope. Be strong. Have courage and fight,” he said. “Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. America is worth fighting for. Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history. Now, let’s go win this election and get this country moving again.”

CASTLEWOOD, VA — Memo to Barack Obama: don’t mess with Joe Biden’s guns.

At a fish fry for mine workers in rural Southwest Virginia, the Delaware Senator commiserated on being from coal country himself — and did his damndest to convince the blue collar, mostly white Democrats that he’s on the ticket to win over that Obama’s one of them as well.

One of rural Democrats’ biggest fears about Obama? That he’ll come after the Second Amendment. Not so, said Biden — and he’d better not try.

“I guarantee you, Barack Obama ain’t taking my shotguns, so don’t buy that malarkey,” Biden said angrily. “They’re going to start peddling that to you.”

“I got two, if he tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem.”

Biden has said he doesn’t hunt, but shoots skeet with his two firearms. “I like that little over and under, you know? I’m not bad with it,” he said today.

Much of his remarks focused on protecting labor from the “barbarians at the gate” — as Biden accused George Bush and John McCain of waging a war on unions. The Vice Presidential nominee also kept coal at the forefront, saying he could use the $4 billion in tax breaks that McCain wants to give to oil companies to instead develop clean coal technologies.

But the main message on the trail continues to be economic. Biden bashed McCain for his upcoming artcile urging deregulation of the health care industry to match the deregulation of banks over the last 10 years — just as that deregulation is being blamed for the collapse of several major Wall Street banks. (more…)

STERLING, VA –Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden called for an end to the “cowboy mentality” of George Bush and John McCain, blaming their cavalier deregulation of Wall Street for the current financial crisis.

Speaking at an event targeted towards women, Biden said Bush and McCain “ripped away the consumer protections that were designed to help you and your investments. They shredded, they actually had a ceremony, remember, with a chainsaw showing how we’re cutting through these regulations.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, these guys have worshipped, they have worshipped at the shrine of deregulation.”

The Delaware Senator said he and his running mate Barack Obama discussed a plan to fix the financial system in a meeting with economic advisers like Warren Buffett and former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker — saying the most pressing thing is to staunch the bleeding.

“We have to require emergency authority granted to the Federal Reserve and the Treasury to see to it that people can stay in their homes, to help them protect their life savings, to deal with their retirement. And we’re going to have to give, we’re going to have to give some significant authority to be able to do that,” he said.

“But equally as important, once we staunch the bleeding, we have to have major, major, major overhaul of how the financial system works.”

“There’s all kinds of ideas, and Barack and I are putting together a plan, but you can’t do this, you can’t do this haphazardly,” he said. “It’s important that it be done thoughtfully so we never repeat this again.”
(more…)

In a lighter moment during his Virginia town hall focusing on health care, 95-year-old Charles Edwards presented the Democratic frontrunner with a handmade walking stick.

“I’ve only got one question for Mr. Edwards – what do you eat so I can look good like you when I’m 95? What’s the secret to looking that good when you’re 95?” Obama wondered.

Mr. Edwards’ secret? “Work hard and eat meals three times a day.”

As Obama admired the maple gift he joked, “If Members of Congress don’t pass my health care bill,” he said, stick in hand. “I’m ready! I’ll whoop ‘em. I’ll whoop ‘em! That’s right. They better not mess with me. I’ll have that stick.” On the stump, Obama promises to pass a health care plan by the end of his first term.

Communications Director Robert Gibbs walked past the press area and exclaimed his eagerness to bring the stick on the plane. Hmmm

Richmond, VA — Delivering a harsh rebuke to war critics, Sen. John McCain said Monday that it “almost insulting to one’s intelligence” to question how long the U.S. will keep troops in Iraq.

“Anyone who worries about how long we’re in Iraq does not understand the military and does not understand war. The question is not how long we stay in Iraq, the question is whether we are able to reduce casualties, eliminate them, have the Iraqi military-as they are today-take over more and more of our responsibilities,” McCain said after a rally at the Virginia Aviation Museum.

The surge proponent ratcheted up his rhetoric today, accusing his Democratic rivals’ of having a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to fight a war.

“The argument is really almost insulting to one’s intelligence to say how long we’re in Iraq,” McCain said, noting that the U.S. has maintained thousands of troops in Germany, South Korea and Japan for decades. “The question is, will we be able to succeed with this strategy, which is succeeding, and withdraw American troops to bases out of harms way, eliminate the casualties, and have this counter-insurgency succeed—which we are on the path to doing.”

His comments come on the same day Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he is considering a summer pause in the draw down of American troops in order to better evaluate the impact of a smaller presence on the current mission.

McCain said he had not been fully briefed on the Gates remarks, noting that he is waiting for U.S. Iraq Commander, General David Petraeus, to return to Washington in April and deliver an updated report from Iraq, adding “I know that we will be guided by the recommendations of General Petraeus.”

After holding two campaign events in Maine, Senator Barack Obama and his traveling entourage of press, staff, and Secret Service headed to Richmond, Virginia, to speak at the state Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner. Hillary Clinton was still shaking hands on her way out of the convention center when Obama, today’s clear victor arrived.

Obama national co-chair and Virginia Governor, Tim Kaine, introduced Obama. “In case you have not been looking at your blackberries tonight, folks, let me give you some news,” he said. Obama won by 2:1 margins in both Nebraska and Washington state, he announced. And he carried Louisiana. The crowd went wild - as they did when Senator Obama took the stage minutes later to U2’s City of Blinding Lights. According to reporters who had been present for both rivals’ speeches, the room greeted the latter candidate with significantly more enthusiasm. He was, after all (if not for just today), the winner.

“Today the voters from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast to the heart of America stood up to say, ‘Yes we can.’ We won in Louisiana, we won in Nebraska, we won Washington state. We won North, we won South, we won in between,” he said with authority. “And I believe that we can win in Virginia on Tuesday if you’re ready to stand for change,”he said to the thousands of Democrats gathered in the state’s capitol. He might be right - recent polls show he is leading Clinton here by significant margins.

While Obama did mention his Democratic rival - he stressed they both had good plans and were indeed friends, despite certain press reports - he saved much of his heat for the Republican he might go up against should his current momentum propel him to lock up the Democratic nomination.

“I believe John McCain is a good man and a genuine American hero, and we honor his half century of service to this nation. But understand in this campaign, in this year, he has made the decision to embrace the failed policies of George Bush’s Washington,” Obama said.
And continuing to talk more and more like a frontrunner, Obama outlined the differences between himself and McCain. “It’s a choice between debating John McCain about who has the most experience in Washington, or debating him about who’s more likely to change Washington. Because that’s a debate we can win.”

America needs a Democrat in the White House, Obama said. “We need to win. America needs us to win. Virginia Democrats know how important this is.”

Following his speech, the Obama campaign sent out emails to reporters, claiming to have a 72 pledged delegate lead over Clinton after today’s wins. And, they say, the Obama campaign has raised “well more” than the Clinton camp this month from more donors, although they did not put out a specific number to match Clinton’s $10 million since February 5th.

Tomorrow Maine holds its caucus - and as they have prior to every race, Team Obama seeks to lower expectations for a handy win. A staffer reminded reporters following tonight’s speech that Maine is in New Hampshire’s backyard, where Clinton pulled out a victory last month.