Obama Talks About Issues In Bristol Town Hall Meeting

UPDATE:  1:40pm,

The event lasted about an hour and a half and included comments from Virginia Representative Rick Boucher and former Governor Mark Warner.  - Jeff E. Schapiro, with our news partners at inRich.com, files this report:

Former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, who’d been neutral on the Democratic presidential race, shared a stage this afternoon with the party’s presumed nominee, Barack Obama.

Warner, running for the U.S. Senate, joined Obama at a rally in Bristol, where Obama referred to the Virginian’s brief bid for the presidency.

Obama said that when he started thinking about national office, he considered the competition, and that Warner was among those he thought would make a “pretty good president.“

With Warner and 9th District Rep. Rick Boucher standing to his right, Obama said, “I look forward to campaigning with Mark Warner in the fall.“

Warner is facing another former governor, Republican Jim Gilmore, for the Senate seat of retiring Republican John Warner. The two Warners are not related.

Warner, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb have been mentioned as possible running mates for Obama, though all three play down the possibility.

Webb, a super-delegate who—like Mark Warner—had been silent on the Democratic nomination, joins Obama this evening at his next stop in Virginia, a rally in Prince William County.

Obama’s day-long blitz of the state is another sign that Democrats believe Virginia—usually reliably Republican in presidential years—is in play in 2008.

—Jeff E. Schapiro

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UPDATE:

11:40 a.m.

Barack Obama arrived by bus at Virginia High School at about 11:30 this morning. The crowd awaits the start of the rally.

Mothers with babies in swings stood in the sweltering heat for hours to see and hear the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

On the stage, Bristol Tennessee resident Christina Green, 27, was introduced.

“I’ll get a sunburn for Barack any day,” she said.

Green showed up at the high school last night to get a ticket and asked an Obama staffer how to volunteer. Later in the night, she got a call and was told what to do. She will meet and instruct other volunteers in a meeting in a soccer field following the rally.

“Voter registration is our top priority,” she said. “We need to unite this country, and I believe Barack Obama can do that. Let’s get this man elected.”

11:15 a.m.:

Forty-five minutes before the scheduled start of Obama’s rally, the crowd began chanting ‘yes we can’ and ‘what time is it? Union time.‘

10:24 a.m.:

Crowds started gathering before dawn at Virginia High School to see Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.  At 9:45 a.m., the doors of the gymnasium were opened, and hundreds began taking their seats.  The gymn has been transformed with seats, a platform, and a large sign that says “CHANGE that we can believe in.“

A program featuring U.S. Senate Candidate and former Governor Mark Warner, U.S. Representative Rick Boucher, and Obama is set to begin at 11:45 a.m..