Sen. Barack Obama will be in Asheville to prepare for next Tuesday’s presidential debate with Sen. John McCain, his campaign confirmed today. No location or public appearance has been announced yet.
“All we’re getting right now is that he will be practicing for the debate in the Asheville area,” Paul Cox, spokesperson for Obama’s North Carolina campaign, told Xpress.
The campaign couldn’t specify when exactly Obama would be in Asheville, but the annual Vance-Aycock dinner, the state Democratic Party’s largest fundraiser, will be held Saturday at the Grove Park Inn.
A Sept. 29 poll by Public Policy Polling showed Obama with a narrow lead over McCain in North Carolina, though other polls have shown the race here to be tied, leading some commentators to characterize North Carolina as a swing state in this election. Jimmy Carter was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win in this state, in 1976.
The town hall-style debate, moderated by Tom Brokaw, will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at Belmont University in Nashville.
— David Forbes, staff writer
holy moly,
this is sorta wow.
I’d give my left ear to photograph him in town :-P
Get his picture and send it to Avl #*itizens Times, they seem to post only the crappy one’s of him.
“Remember Keating 5”
Obama 08!
What a horrible tease! I would do anything to see his beautiful face in person, even if it was from a million feet away.
I would love to see him speak here in Asheville that would be a highlight! I have been making phone calls for his campaign and really enjoy being a part of something so important! Mama for Obama ’08!
Wow! This is amazing… Not that Obama would be practicing for a debate here or even just visiting Asheville, but that the first viable Presidential Candidate with minority status might associate with a function (Vance-Aycock Dinner) that was named after a man that was a publicly unapologetic racist and may have played a major role in the bloodiest and most deadly racial mass murder in NC History… But then again, the Democratic Party of NC HAS apologized for it’s role in that dark day in NC history… So maybe I’m being unfair. (I wonder if Obama’s folks know who this dinner is named after? What would the good Rev. Wright have to say about the Senator lending credence to an event named after a white supremacist?) Don’t believe me? Here’s the official govt report on it… http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/1898-wrrc/
Take a Stand Senator! Condemn the NC Democratic Party for continuing to honor such racial hatred!
I went to Charlotte Sunday before last to see him speak. We got up before 6am and drove out there. The staffers working there were incredibly organized. One told us, “This line here is a mile long form this point. But if you go ’round the corner, there’s another line, and I hear it’s shorter.” We took the advice and got in line. Met lots of folks, all in a great mood. At 11 (righto n schedule) they opened the line, and guided us through security. (TSA workers — they should be half this efficient at airports!) We walked (sprinted!) to the edge of the crowd and took our (standing) places. Then — only then — we looked around to locate the podium. It was 40 feet in front of us! We had a great spot; we could have heard the Senator even without a PA system.
Lots of fun. Even to the few local misguided souls who might not vote for him, GO SEE HIM, and bring your kids if you got ’em. It’s a moment of history.
See you there, wherever “there” ends up being (if it does).
By the way, as far as possibly spotting him, he does have a Flickr account (done by aides i’m sure because it frequently is his picture), that could help to see where he is currently. And it’s updated pretty frequently.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/
how cool is it that he has a flickr account, eh???
Well Matt I tend to agree with you but no one has said he is attending the dinner. He is however going to hold a rally at the Asheville High Stadium. On another note, having a chance at winning the state it might unwise for him not to attend the diner…politically that is but then he would have to worry about “the incompetent out of touch old fart” beating him up about attending, or for that matter Sarah “sentences to nowhere” Palin.
Barack better practice realgood cause he cant talk worth a darn unless he practices. When you ask him a surprise question, you get a lot of hums and haws and ers.
Not only does Obama tell us what he is going to do he tell us how he is going to do it. I am sick and tired of McCain telling us what he thinks we want to hear. It is time for us to stand up and take back our country.
We in North Carolina are longing for a glimmer of hope. We need a leader with a broader vision for a better America for our children and our grand children. We need a President that will lead us back to our American Dream with innovation, technology and education. I don’t see that in McCain. All I see in McCain is we must win the war at any cost and at any expense of the lives of our troops.
We need to get McCain out of our state like Michigan dumped him.
well said jmeill7854!
And Marcia…have you listened to your own candidate lately…he sounds incompetent…I wonder if the early stages of Alzheimer’s is setting in?
You folks also try to use flip flops on Obama but the truth is lately McCain flips flops numerous times on one subject weekly and that mouth piece of his “Mrs. Sentences to Nowhere” she is clueless and even more out of touch then her hero John McCain. The only way John McCain can draw a decent size crowd is to have her around because she has a nice set of legs or everybody goes to get an advance viewing of what the next SNL skit will be about.