Obama revels in new status as presumed nominee

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Barack Obama reveled Thursday in his newfound status as the likely Democratic nominee and signaled that Republicans face a fierce fight over Virginia this fall, a state long-held by the GOP.

"I'm proud of America for giving me this opportunity, but we've still got work to do," the Illinois senator told a crowd in this southeastern city of about a 20,000 on the Tennessee border.

Obama held two events in the Southern state where Democrats sense opportunity this year after several years of the party's inroads fueled by the population-swelling, liberal-to-moderate northern swath of the state.

The last time Democrats won Virginia in a presidential election was 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson was the nominee. George W. Bush comfortably won the state twice, but he lost the northern part to Democrat John Kerry four years ago. Voters there were critical in helping Democrats retain the governor's mansion in 2005 and seize a GOP-held Senate seat in 2006 that gave Democrats control of Congress.

Two top Democrats who have been mentioned as possible vice presidential candidates — Gov. Tim Kaine and Sen. Jim Webb — as well as Mark Warner, a former governor running for an open Senate seat, campaigned with Obama at an outdoor rally in the northern Virginia town of Bristow.

Aboard his plane between events, Obama said his search for a running mate will be secret. He called it the most important decision he'll make for the duration of his campaign.

"I intend to do it right and I am not going to do it in the press," he said. "The next time you hear from me about the vice presidential selection process will be when I have selected a vice president."

Obama campaigned in Virginia two days after clinching the Democratic nomination, and a day after his fallen rival Hillary Rodham Clinton signaled she would endorse him at an event on Saturday. He had words of praise for his vanquished foe.

"Obviously, we've had a pretty exciting 48 hours. This is on the heels of a 16-month, 54-primary and caucus campaign with outstanding candidates, none more outstanding than Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. I congratulate her on her outstanding campaign. I know I'm a better candidate for campaigning against her. She's tough," Obama said.

He had lengthy words of admiration for Warner, who was at the first event, saying "Mark has provided extraordinary leadership that has achieved extraordinary results. He knows that the challenges we face are not about left versus right or Democrat versus Republican they are about the past versus the future."

He also lavished praise on Webb, calling him "an indispensable voice for change in Washington" and noted Kaine's early endorsement when others thought he was a flash in the pan.

Obama's first event in Bristol drew former Clinton backers who wanted to hear what the newly minted nominee had to say.

"Two days," Caroline Williams, a 21-year-old AmeriCorps worker, said when asked how long she had supported Obama. "Hillary Clinton told me I should throw my support behind him."

Williams, who recently graduated from college and said jobs and health care were among her top issues, wanted Clinton to remain in politics but said she wasn't sure a vice presidential bid was the best path for the former first lady.

She said she was encouraged by the quality of candidates in the current election compared to the Bush/Kerry matchup four years ago.

"I'm excited we had such good candidates. Even McCain — I don't agree with him, but I think he's been better than what we've had," said Williams, from Bristol, Tenn.

Overall, Obama sounded the part of a general election candidate, referring in his remarks to the choice voters will have "this fall" and talking of "an Obama administration." He also criticized McCain, primarily over health care, and sought anew to link his GOP rival to the unpopular president.

"Now, I respect John McCain, and I honor his service to this country. My differences with him are not personal; they're about the policies he's proposed on this campaign — policies that are no different than the ones that have failed us for the last eight years," Obama said.

Obama took a congratulatory call from McCain around 7 p.m. Wednesday night that lasted several minutes, aides to the Democrat said.

"I'd called him when he achieved the nomination, so he reciprocated. He was very gracious. I said that I was looking forward to a civil, substantive debate on the issues, and he agreed," Obama told reporters on his airplane.

The Democrat argued that health care premiums have risen faster than wages since Bush took office, and that millions more people in the country are uninsured "yet John McCain actually wants to double down on the failed policies that have done so little to help ordinary Americans."

"Like George Bush, Senator McCain has a plan that only takes care of the healthy and the wealthy," Obama said, noting that McCain's plan doesn't provide for universal health care coverage and arguing that it would drive up costs.

___

Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler in Bristow, Va., contributed to this report.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_el_pr/obama [link]