Fans lined up hours in advance on a sweaty day in Tysons Corner, clenching their tickets as they waited for doors to open around 4:30 p.m. The most die-hards are there up front, hoping to land a spot in the front row after the doors open and they pass through security.

Some of the local opening acts receive a raucous response, others polite applause. Then, the three headliners appeared, one by one.

The direct support act received a bigger reaction than the last opener, but when the national headliner came, the roof nearly caved from the screams of an audience 1,500-strong.

Camera bulbs flashed. Screams. Name chants. Hands reached out, hoping to make contact with the flesh of the frontman as he made his way through the front of the crowd toward the stage, complete with security detail and a smile stretching ear to ear.

"Hello Virginia!" said the man behind the microphone to a thundering response from the audience. "Are you fired up? Are you ready to go?"

No, this was not a rock concert at some intimate club. Rather, it was the return of President Barack Obama to Northern Virginia as he and Gov. Tim Kaine (D) stopped by the Hilton McLean Grand Ballroom last Thursday to support the gubernatorial candidacy of state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath).

While the day technically belonged to Deeds, the two-term state senator knew better.

"I know I'm not the main event, so let me just say a couple words," he said to an overture of cheers.

Obama spoke in front of the crowd and members of the media not just to help Deeds out with exposure and fund-raising, but to defend his own national economic agenda too.

Decrying "misinformation" being spread by critics, Obama told the crowd, "I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to set the record straight."

He then delved into how one-third of his economic stimulus bill - which he refers to as a "recovery package" - was devoted to tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, a promise he had made during the 2008 campaign.

"So when you see naysayers and critics saying, This isn't money well spent, just remember, one-third of it is going right into your pockets," the president said.

Obama then mentioned how the other two-thirds of the plan - more money for unemployment benefits and increased federal spending on job creation and retention projects - helped save 13,000 public sector jobs in areas like education and law enforcement.

The Virginia House of Delegates actually rejected the $150 million unemployment grant from the federal government this past year on the basis that the state would have to continue paying for it after the grant money expired. Obama pointed out that though Virginia as a whole has not been as negatively affected by the national recession as other states, due to what he said was Democratic leadership in the governor's mansion, there were still areas of the commonwealth that were hurting for jobs.

"Folks here are still losing their homes or being touched by health premiums that have doubled over the past 5 years," he said.

Easily the most discussed topic of the day by Obama, Deeds and Kaine however was education.

"Neither one of us had much," said Obama as he compared himself with Deeds, both of whom have two daughters, served as a state senator and "have sort of funny names."

"But we had mothers that loved us. And pushed us. And still believed that education was the best shot that we were going to have . We're living proof that education is the single best investment we can make..."

Deeds said earlier one of the primary differences between himself and Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell is how to use the state general fund. State Democrats and moderate Republicans generally oppose dipping into the general fund to help pay for transportation while conservative Republicans generally support using general fund or surplus dollars, when available, for transportation.

Because the general fund provides revenue for education, Democrats like Deeds charge that taking money from there to fund transportation would mean short-changing education.

"My opponent [McDonnell] talks about public education, and I'll tell you what, friends: it's easy to talk a good game in an election year, but he has a long record of opposing funding for public education, opposing funding for school construction and opposing pre-K programs," said Deeds. "And just two weeks ago, my opponent put forward a transportation plan that takes away $5.4 billion dollars away from public education."

Manassas resident Rey Aponte, who attended the rally with his son David, agreed with Deeds on both fronts.

"...I think that the opposition's view of taking money from education to take [care of] the transportation problem is not the way to go. I think education too many times in the past has been the payee for the state's woes," said Aponte.

He also said he supports a Deeds plan "to establish a kind of merit system of a kind that will get the better teachers in. And I think he also wants to get better teachers into the more impoverished areas of the state, where they are sorely needed."

Education "is the biggest difference between the two candidates," said Bob Zwick, a farmer from The Plains in Fauquier County.

Julie Turner of Marshall explained that she thought Obama effectively used local issues when defining the positions of Deeds.

"President Obama pointed out that Creigh supports wide open spaces and land use, and that's specific to Fauquier County," said Turner.

Kaine stressed that under the governorships of himself and his predecessor Mark Warner (D), who is now the junior U.S. Senator from Virginia, the commonwealth was named the best managed state in America (Governing Magazine), the best state to do business (Forbes Magazine) and the place where a child is most likely to have a successful life (Education Week).

Defending his own record, Kaine said, "I had to make some painful decisions as governor but I've made the decisions that I needed to make to put Virginia moving in the right direction," later adding that putting Deeds in the governor's mansion would let him "sleep with a big smile."

Obama closed out the night with a huge crescendo that highlighted how Americans from all walks of life united to support his candidacy last year.

"Last year, Virginia, you helped lead a movement," he said. "[It was by] those who believe that their voices could make a difference: young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled, not disabled; everybody was involved. It didn't come from Washington, it came from the bottom up. That's what we need to do in this race."

The line about gay and straight particularly hit home for David Aponte, a student leader and straight ally of the Gay-Lesbian-Straight Education Network at Battlefield High School in Haymarket.

"To me, my heart rises a little bit every time he says it," said the younger Aponte. "I mean, it's so meaningful to me [for him] to include something like that. After the past administration we had, it truly shows the progression of the country and it truly shows that we have a president in office who considers everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, regardless of anything."