A downpour showered President Barack Obama Saturday at his outdoor campaign event in Glen Allen where he told a wet but excited crowd of 900 people that his purpose is to "rebuild our economy so that it lasts."
"That's our central purpose," Obama said. "That's what this campaign is about. That's what I've been working on for the last three and one-half years. That's why I'm running for a second term as president of the United States."
In the final hours of his two-day, five stop campaign blitz through the Old Dominion, Obama delivered essentially the same stump speech at the historic Walkerton Tavern and Gardens that he delivered Friday in Hampton and Virginia Beach, where he focused on strengthening the middle class。
Obama said the "top-down" economic policies put forward by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney are the same ones that created THE current economic crisis, which led to Obama taking office during the worst recession since the Great Depression。
"We did this and it didn't work," Obama said. "We can't afford to go back to the top-down economics. We need somebody who believes in middle-out economics, a bottom-up economics.... When working people do well, everybody does well. That means businesses have more customers."
U.S. Rep. Robert C."Bobby" Scott, D-Newport News, whose district includes parts of Richmond, took to the stage before the president arrived at the event to tell the crowd that Virginia must go for Obama like it did in 2008 to keep the president in the White House。
Virginia is seen as a key swing state that must be carried by either candidate to ensure an election victory.In 2008, Obama became the first Democrat to carry Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
美国总统奥巴马7月14日来到弗吉尼亚州府里士满附近一个小镇上大发表演讲时遭遇暴雨，但始终无人为他撑伞。
奥巴马当天向镇上900多名市民发表了批评共和党竞选对手罗姆尼的演说。批评的言论不足为奇。令人称奇的是天气突变，很快变成瓢泼大雨。奥巴马全身湿透，但竞选演讲丝毫不受影响。
目前有民调显示奥巴马与罗姆尼的支持率非常接近，11月的大选日益迫近，奥巴马丝毫不敢怠慢。一直以来，奥巴马都把对手描绘成一个不接触普通百姓的亿万富翁。在当天的演讲中，奥巴马继续与听众分享自己年幼时全家乘大巴出行的简朴度假经历，试图拉近与底层民众的距离。
同时，奥巴马还警告听众：“在接下去的4个月，我的对手会把更多的巨款投入到抹黑我的广告中。基本上，这些广告就是说国内经济并不理想，而这都是奥巴马的责任。这也许可以成为一个赢得大选的计划，却成不了创造工作机会或帮助中产阶级的计划，也无法振兴我们的经济。”
演讲快结束的时候，雨势更大了，奥巴马还不忘对糟糕的天气开开玩笑：“我就要讲完了，不过反正大家都被淋湿了，也无所谓，只是很多人发型不保了。”
弗吉尼亚州是重要的摇摆州，2008年总统大选中，奥巴马成为自1964年的林登·约翰逊以来，第一位赢得弗吉尼亚州的民主党总统候选人。
