Presidential Candidate Supporters Turning Virginia into Barack Obama's Country

A Group Operating Without Campaign Connection

The Obama grassroots movement is becoming a force to reckon with as groups upon groups are taking the daunting task of mobilizing, outreaching and crusading the vision of their candidate to voters across the country.

One of the notable groups in Virginia is Alexandria4Obama who are actively mobilizing for Sen. Barack Obama in the area. In an email received Monday night from a member of the Alexandria4Obama Steering Committee Keith Lutman, the group will kick-start on Saturday, 7-14-07, a 15,000-petition drive across Alexandria to have Sen. Obama on the Virginia ballot.

Part of the email reads, " This Second Saturday "Visibility/Signature Gathering Day" will focus on gathering signatures to put Barack Obama on the ballot in Virginia. We will collect signatures from Virginia voters. We will also do the usual things...identify supporters, recruit volunteers and hand out Obama materials," he wrote.

Earlier in February after Sen. Barack Obama announces his candidacy for president in Springfield Illinois, Todd Ruopp, an Iowa native residing in Alexandria VA, formed a group called Alexandria4Obama-with a simple goal to "stage visibility events that identify supporters" of Obama within Alexandria VA.

At the onset of the formation of the group, the attendance was relatively poor-only four people-a discouraging start for a group that most of them are participating in active politicking for the first time.

According to the group representative, there was an unexpected increase in the number of attendees at March 31^st "Community Kickoff event"-an event organized by the Obama campaign nationwide, which according to the campaign, the event was held at more than 5,000 locations across the country.