Obama shows up for Spanberger in governor hopeful’s last-minute rally of Va. faithful

By Caleb Ogilvie, Jonathan Casaverde Maimon, Sheridan Leinbach and Penelope Jennings

NORFOLK — John Bull, who reported on politics in Philadelphia for two decades, has met every president since Ronald Reagan. Except for Barack Obama. Bull had not even seen Obama in person.

But on Nov. 2 he waited in a line that wrapped around the 9,000-seat Chartway Arena at Old Dominion University to see Obama cheer on Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for Virginia’s governor. Bull said he wanted to hear Obama’s “prescription for preserving democracy.” He also hoped the rally opened people’s minds.

“I would like to see the people that attend here energized enough to speak to their friends and their neighbors in an honest way,” he said, “so that folks that have an open mind will continue to have an open mind on election day.”

Jane Elizabeth, a former Richmond Times-Dispatch journalist and Bull’s spouse, said she hoped lots of people came to the rally for Obama and left excited to vote for Spanberger. Obama is the best person to excite voters on the fence for Spanberger, Elizabeth said.

“He’s just the most iconic Democrat, and also people are very nostalgic for his time in office,” she said. 

In Virginia over the weekend, gubernatorial candidates Spanberger and Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R) rallied supporters in their respective political strongholds ahead of Tuesday’s vote. Spanberger’s sprint, however, was bolstered by the presence of former President Barack Obama while Earle-Sears remained without even a Trump endorsement.

Standing in line waiting to get into the 9,000-seat arena, Air Force veteran and lifelong Republican Dave Phelps described himself as a “never-Trump Republican” and said he was supporting “anybody that will help move the MAGA out of our politics.”

Phelps had voted for Trump in 2016 and confessed that he is emotional about the state of the Republican party. “I feel like I’ve been kicked out of my party,” he said.

Phelps admitted he would probably be voting Democratic for the rest of his life because his party had disillusioned him. “I thought the Republican Party represented honesty. It represented law-abiding people, and a strong defense,” Phelps said. As a veteran he felt betrayed by Trump’s NATO and UN rhetoric, he said, highlighting just how important those treaties are.

“There’s no air space between any of the Republicans back to Trump…whether it be our [gubernatorial] candidate or whether it be our local representative. There’s no oxygen between them.”

Toward the back of the stadium sat a single-father with his two young sons. He entertained them with games of rock-paper-scissors. The crowds chanted and waved signs while waiting to hear gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger and former President Barack Obama speak.

“I want them to experience democracy. I want them to see it in action. I want them to experience it amidst the chaos,” he said. “I want them to remember we showed up when it mattered.”

The father is a former federal employee at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who asked that his name not be used because he’s worried about retaliation. He said he doesn’t usually attend political events, rallies or protests because as a federal employee he’s expected to remain nonpartisan. But he said “he had to show his sons the importance of democracy, in this moment… I just want to raise good men.”

As Obama took the stage, they all stood, the father taking the hand of one son, while the other enthusiastically waved his Spangberger sign and chanted, “Obama, Obama, Obama,” with the crowd.

Olivia Cherry, president of an LGBTQ+ student group at Hampton University called MOSAIC, was holding a bisexual pride flag as she stood in line outside Chartway Arena. She said she voted early for Spanberger and Jay Jones, the Democratic attorney general nominee who texted fantasies of killing then-House Speaker of Virginia Todd Gilbert.

Cherry learned of the texts after she voted, but she said she has no regrets.

“I’d still rather see him in office than (current attorney general) Jason [Miyares],” she said. “But I understand how that could change some people’s perspective on doing early voting and then finding out something later on that could have influenced your vote a little bit more.”

Elizabeth, the former Richmond Times-Dispatch journalist, said Spanberger may lose points with voters for sharing the ticket with Jones.

“Not a good look,” she said. “I would like to see them have a message that resonates with people who are on the fence.”

But Elizabeth wasn’t one of those people. She said she has a sign in her front yard supporting Spanberger, and she thought a lot of people waiting for hours to hear her already supported Spanberger.

It’s possible Obama’s appearance could draw the attention of people who hadn’t voted yet, though, Elizabeth said, noting that could ultimately help Spanberger win the undecideds.

“I don’t know if it will work or not,” she said. “I would say all these people already know who they’re going to vote for, but it’s worth a shot.”