By Robert O'Donnell
Richmond, Va.
Hey, it’s Rob O’Donnell checking in from Richmond at the Virginia for Obama campaign headquarters. I’d quickly like to give a shout out to Christian Hambleton who due to injury will no longer be able to play soccer for the Wildcats. Christian has helped lead the Cats on and off the field, he has represented Davidson with courage and conviction, and most importantly he has been a trusted and loyal friend. He will be missed, and I would personally like to say, on behalf of Davidson Soccer and the entire student body, thank you for your dedication and hard work over the past two years.
As for the Democratic presidential primary, today marks the first day after Super Tuesday where 22 states voted on who would be the Democratic nominee. Senator Obama won 14 of the 22 states, while Senator Clinton won only 8. The delegates won by each candidate were much closer however, with Senator Obama narrowly edging out Senator Clinton. The focus of the Democratic primary will now turn to the February 9th caucuses and the Feb. 12th primaries.
Virginia, where I am stationed out of, has its primary on February 12th when the Chesapeake states: VA, D.C., and MD all cast their ballots. There is no word on what polling data looks like for the region, but we have a very strong grassroots base here in the commonwealth. We have hosted organizational meetings for supporters across the state, and we are planning an extremely aggressive grassroots campaign.
I’m working in the press office helping to coordinate surrogate visits as well as deal with the media in Virginia. It’s been a great opportunity to broaden my understanding of how a campaign works outside of the field aspect of it. I'm finally getting used to consistently being on the road, but the hours are still long. Anyways, now that the spotlight is on us, it is time to get back to work. I’ll check in at a later date. Hope things are well at school.
-Rob O’Donnell
