When U.S. presidential front-runner Barack Obama appeared before a huge crowd of more than 80,000 supporters in Manassas on Monday night, he knew that his concept of "change" had been well received.
But he was trying to send out an even stronger call for change at this final campaign rally hours before Election Day officially began Tuesday morning, to make a final push for Virginia's 13 electoral votes and ensure his 21-month quest for the presidency was a success.
"Virginia, let's go change the world," said Obama, standing on a temporarily built stage in a Manassas park, with a huge "Change" banner behind him and an at least 3-meter-high sign in the distance emblazoned with the words "Vote for Change."
Noting that the country was now on the verge of choosing whether to remake its stricken economy, end the Iraq war and restore the United States' role of global leadership, Obama called upon U.S. citizens to join forces with him to change to the "broken policies" of the White House.
"That's how we're going to change this country, because of you," he told the massive cheering crowd, and urged his supporters not to "slow down or sit back or let up, not for one hour, not for one second."
To repeated chants of "Yes! We can!" and "O-ba-ma!", his supporters, of all colors and ages, waved their "We Need Change" banners in the air.
The park had been turned into a sea of excited people.
Obama's stump speech was time and again interrupted by loud cheers, screams of appreciation and applause.
"We love you, Obama," many shouted.
"Obama is a man of great vision," Elizabeth Hall, a white lady, told Xinhua shortly after the rousing rally concluded. "He knows clearly what our problems are and has tons of good ideas to tackle them."
"Our country is in big trouble and it needs a great leader like him to take us out of the mire in which we are deeply trapped," she said. She and many other whites did not care too much about "his skin color," said Hall. "What we care about are his vision and leadership."
Zala Bore, a disabled African-American in her 70s, who had driven to the venue from her home some 80 km away, told Xinhua that she was excited to see that the "American dream" was soon to be realized for Obama, the African-American presidential hopeful.
According to reports, Obama emerged victorious in the first election returns of the 2008 presidential race, winning 15 of 21 votes cast in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.
"Fired up?" Obama was asking a sea of supporters surrounding him.
"Ready to go!" they roared in response.
However, people familiar with U.S. election history remained calm although good news about Obama was coming in from just about everywhere.
James Timber, a U.S. journalist, told Xinhua that Virginia had not cast its electoral votes for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, when Lyndon Johnson won all but six states.
"We have to wait and see," he said, referring to the element of the unexpected that always comes into play.
Although it was an evening for Obama supporters, his opponents seized the opportunity to air their views as well.
A lady, holding high a banner that said "Obama, share wealth? No way!" told Xinhua that Obama's ideology runs against the fundamental values of U.S. society, adding that the Democratic nominee will encounter strong resistance if he carries on with his policy of "redistributing social wealth."
(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2008)
