BRISTOL, Va. — Less than 5 miles from where Republican
presidential nominee Mitt Romney spoke Oct. 5, running mate Paul
Ryan greeted a crowd in a second Washington County, Va., campaign
stop Thursday.
Speaking outside Universal Fibers at the Bristol-Washington
County Industrial Park, he brought a pro-business message.
“We want to release American businesses to compete,” Ryan told a
crowd outside the manufacturing facility, which sells its products
globally. “If we can get ourselves on a level playing field, no one
can hold a candle to us.”
This county of just under 55,000 people is in Southwest
Virginia, a sparsely populated region of this swing state that’s
received a lot of attention in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential
races.
In 2008, the largely conservative region went heavily
Republican, but Democratic turnout was strong after three
Obama-Biden campaign stops in three different Southwest Virginia
towns. The state as a whole went Democratic for the first time in
more than 40 years.
As Ryan spoke Thursday about the need for more business-friendly
leadership in Washington, local Republican leaders said this year’s
election in Virginia — and the nation — could hinge on the
turnout in this region.
“I think turnout in the 9th [Congressional] District is key. I
think it’s crucial,” said Bob Gibson, a local elected official and
Republican chairman in Russell County, one of Virginia’s seven
coal-producing counties. “I think it’s a unique opportunity for
Southwest Virginia to not only decide Virginia; we could decide the
whole national election.”
In Southwest Virginia, where voters often support Democratic
candidates in local races and Republicans in larger elections,
Republican turnout was low in 2008, Gibson said. But he said
there’s good reason to believe it will be higher this year: “The
war on coal.”
Many in Southwest Virginia blame federal regulation under the
Obama administration for the recent slowdown in coal production and
jobs. Even the United Mine Workers of America, traditionally a
potential political force for Democrats, has chosen to remain
silent on endorsements this year, though the union endorsed Obama
in 2008.
Oris Christian, treasurer of the Russell County Republican
Party, said a lot of union members — and other coal country
Democrats — are planning to vote for Romney and Ryan.
“They’ve laid off, in Southwest Virginia and southern West
Virginia, nearly 2,000 coal miners, just in the last two months,”
Gibson said. “I think Romney will overwhelmingly carry Southwest
Virginia… I just hope it’s enough to offset the vote in Eastern
Virginia and Northern Virginia.”
When it comes to political leanings, Virginia tends to be split,
with the largely rural western and southern parts of the state
leaning Republican and the more urbanized northern and eastern
regions leaning Democratic. This regional division is part of what
makes Virginia a toss-up.
Terry Frye, a Democrat, will cast one of Obama’s electoral votes
if the president wins the state. Frye said Obama won Virginia in
2008 primarily because of the votes he received in Northern
Virginia — but the southwest region was also important.
“Population-wise we’re not huge in terms of numbers…but clearly
the coal miners in this area and some of the farmers…contributed to
the president’s victory in Virginia,” Frye said. “He got a much
higher turnout of Democratic voters in Southwest Virginia than
presidential candidates normally receive, so I think it was
significant.”
Frye said Southwest Virginia voters were swayed in 2008 by
Obama’s compelling message and charisma, and because he was
engaging during his two campaign stops.
With polls this close, Frye said, a couple hundred votes could
turn the election — a fact that’s proven reality before in
statewide races. While he doesn’t doubt Virginia’s 9th
Congressional District will see a Republican majority in 2012, he
anticipates a sizeable percentage of Democratic voters also.
“I can’t single out one region,” he said. “I think it’s just the
turnout in general is going to decide the election.”
The Obama-Biden ticket hasn’t yet made an appearance in far
Southwest Virginia this year, though Obama visited Roanoke (site of
his “you didn’t build that” remarks) and Biden made a stop in
Wytheville — both areas of the 9th District that are east of the
state’s coal region. Their absence from the far Southwest this year
has led some to believe that they’ve written it off.
“I think they see the writing on the wall,” said Joyce Kistner,
chairwoman for the Bristol, Va., Republican Committee.
Romney spokesman Sean Fitzpatrick said Romney will win Virginia
for two reasons: the harm that’s been done to the state’s coal
industry and defense cuts that have impacted Virginia’s military
facilities.
But it was clear Thursday that neither campaign had given up the
state. While Ryan spoke in Bristol and Charlottesville, Obama
visited the state capital of Richmond. Romney plans another swing
through the state this weekend, with Biden planning stops in
Virginia Beach and Lynchburg.
The polls still call Virginia a toss-up, though this week’s
Rasmussen poll gave a slight edge to Romney, with 50 percent to
Obama’s 48 percent. The RealClearPolitics average
of Virginia polls has Romney ahead in Virginia by 1.5
percentage points.
At Universal Fibers, Ryan spoke Thursday about the need to make
things easier on job-creators and promote a future focused on
economic growth. He held up Universal Fibers, a small business that
grew and went global, as an example of the success that could be
multiplied if regulations aren’t used in lieu of legislation,
government lives within its means, and business tax rates are
competitive.
“For these job creators…we’ve got to give them the ability to go
and invest,” Ryan said. “We’ve got to give them the confidence that
the government isn’t going to pull the rug out from under
them.”
He also asked voters to keep basic American principles in sight
Nov. 6.
“We are an idea, that’s what our country is,” Ryan said.
“America is an idea. It’s a country founded on an idea, and Thomas
Jefferson said it better than anyone else could: Our rights, they
come from nature and nature’s God, not from government. We are
sovereign. The government works for us, and not the other way
around. That’s what this country is built on. That’s who we are.
That’s the genius of America.”
“We will not kick the can down the road,” he promised. “We will
not run away from our country’s problems; we’ll run at our
country’s problems. We will not blame other people for the next
four years; we will take responsibility and clean up this mess in
Washington. And we will not try to transform this country into
something that it was never intended to be.”
Universal Fibers CEO Marc Ammen had another message for Obama:
People know that government didn’t build their success.
“All these years, I thought you actually built his company, and
then I got this information from our president that actually
Washington, D.C. built our company,” he said to the employees in
the crowd, to a chorus of boos.
“I’ve got a message for Washington, D.C., and I’ve got a message
for Barack Obama: You didn’t build this. You actually got in the
way. I hope that, Washington, D.C., you can hear that loud and
clear because if you don’t hear it now, you’re going to hear it a
week from Tuesday…. This company was built by these folks right
here.”
