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Biden stumps at GMU PWC
This election cycle has been unlike any other for Manassas and Prince William County.
Presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton and vice presidential nominee Joe Biden have all stopped by in the last seven months, trying to pick up votes in a bellwether area in a battleground state.
And that’s just the Democrats.
Biden became the latest Democratic candidate to stump in the area last Thursday, speaking to a packed house at the Verizon Auditorium on the Prince William campus of George Mason University.
Five other Northern Virginia residents joined him on stage during the town hall-style rally to discuss how they have been negatively affected by the economy.
Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized various Republican National Convention speakers for making “a lot of appeals to division in America.”
He also slammed the campaign manager for Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for saying “This election is not about issues.
“Quite frankly, folks, they can’t explain the eight years of absolute, absolute abject failure of our foreign policy, and they can’t explain the eight years of economic decline in this country, particularly hitting the middle class like a gut-punch,” Biden said.
Domestic issues dominated the event. Even when the subject switched to the war in Iraq, it was for remarks that money spent on the war could be spent better in the United States.
For example, a woman in the crowd asked how Biden and Obama planned to cut the national debt and strengthen the value of the dollar while still offering middle-class tax cuts.
Biden replied that in order to do that, the Democratic administration would roll back the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year, end the war in Iraq and invest in infrastructure in an attempt to generate jobs.
“You’ve got to grow the economy to pay for this problem,” he declared.
Regarding illegal immigration, Biden said the focus of the national immigration debate “is always about Spanish-speaking people,” despite the fact that there are others “who come on legal visas and stay” after they expire.
His three-pronged approach to the problem involves cracking down on employers, enhanced border security and making a “real compromise” with congressional Republicans.
Panelist Cindy Lyon said she grew up 30 miles north of Biden’s home town of Scranton, Penn., bringing a fist-pump and a smile from Delaware’s senior senator. Her story ended up being perhaps the most heart-wrenching of the group, as she told of working 80 to 100 hours a week for more than 20 years, then falling victim to cancer.
“When you have your own business, you can’t stop to play,” Lyon said, noting she worked through surgeries that resulted in more than $65,000 in medical expenses and health insurance.
Lyon said her house is going into foreclosure, she is in bed “about four days a week” and has $1 in her wallet.
“This is the reason why we have to have national health care in this country,” she said to a resounding cheer.
“It’s just amazing,” Nancy Jimenez of Woodbridge said of Biden coming to town.
A volunteer for the Obama campaign who, like Joyce Morris standing next to her, managed to score coveted blue admission tickets to the Biden event, Jimenez said she is new to political campaigning. She has phone banked and talked to neighbors on behalf of the campaign so far.
Airean Andureal is another first-time campaign volunteer. The 56-year-old Manassas resident passed out bottles of water to media personnel waiting to receive credentials Friday and acted as an usher of sorts inside the auditorium.
“When I heard Obama speak four years ago, I started watching him,” said the former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) backer. Andureal cited home foreclosures as one of the most important issues to him because in his townhouse complex, one-third of the homes have been foreclosed upon.
Obama’s message of change particularly resonated with the spiritual counselor and energy worker because he wants new leadership in Washington.
“The mentality that creates the problems is not the one that can solve them,” Andureal said, paraphrasing a quote by Albert Einstein.
George Mason University junior Eiman Hager shared concerns about the housing market, especially for recent and soon-to-be college graduates.
“It’s unpredictable, and it’s harder for people to know what they’re going to do when they’re graduating,” said the Manassas resident attending her first-ever political rally.
No major Republican candidate spoke in Prince William during the primary season, as eventual nominee McCain had all but wrapped up the nomination by the time the “Potomac Primary,” featuring Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, came up on the calendar.
As of press time, McCain had made only one official campaign stop in Virginia. However, he and Palin were due to stump at Fairfax High School on Wednesday, after the Times deadline.
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