Obama Thursday Town Hall Tickets Run Out

UPDATE: News Channel 11’s Bill Christian talked with a Sen. Barack Obama campaign official at the Virginia High location. The ticket supplies have run out. There is a waiting list at the Virginia High School location. Your Tri-Cities news Source will have more details today on News Channel 11 at Noon.
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BRISTOL, Va. – Susie Walling’s children got her interested in the presidential election, so when she learned Tuesday that Barack Obama was bound for Bristol, she knew the family had to attend.
Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is scheduled to hold a town hall-style meeting at 11:45 a.m. Thursday at Virginia High School. The visit comes just two days after the Illinois senator clenched the Democratic nomination following a six-month battle with Sen. Hillary Clinton. Virginia hasn’t supported a Democrat for president in 44 years but is now considered a battleground, according to the Associated Press.
“Yes, it’s exciting,” Walling said Tuesday night of Obama’s visit. “I have three teenagers who are excited about this election and interested in the candidates. I wasn’t, but they’ve got me excited.”
Walling was among more than 200 who showed up at Virginia High Tuesday night to get tickets to attend Thursday’s gathering. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required, according to a news release from the Obama campaign.
Walling said two of her three children are eligible to vote and one plans to vote for Obama.
Beth Rhinehart of Bristol, Va., was the third person in a line of about 40 people Tuesday night. She was picking up tickets for her three children.
“This is an opportunity for my children to experience seeing a leading presidential candidate,” Rhinehart said. “I think it will be a great thing.”
Come November, Devon Bracher will be eligible to vote and she has already decided to vote for Obama.
“I like the way he brings so much hope to everything,” Bracher said. “I think he really can change things.”
Travis Clark, who also got his tickets Tuesday evening, said he is excited about the senator’s visit.
“I’m kind of shocked,” Clark said. “I’m glad he’s coming. We support him and we want to get all the people we can here.”
About 3,000 people will be admitted. The doors to the gym are scheduled to open at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday.
“They [Obama camp] wanted to come to Southwest Virginia and heard we had a great facility here,” said Virginia High Principal Ina Danko.
She took the call Tuesday morning and helped campaign officials work through the logistics of setting up the event.
“We’re glad for the opportunity to show off our town and our school. We’re kind of excited about it,” Danko said.
Thursday’s event will be the first of two Virginia stops for Obama. At 6 p.m., he is scheduled to attend a rally in Bristow, which is in Northern Virginia.
Ticket distribution for the Bristol event is scheduled to continue from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. today at the Virginia High gym at 1200 Long Crescent Drive, Bristol, Va.; the Boucher for Congress campaign office, 137 S. Court St., Abingdon, Va.; and the United Mine Workers office at 2 Right Miners Drive in Castlewood, Va.
For security reasons, those attending should not take bags and personal items should be limited. No signs or banners will be allowed.

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