Suburban voters could tilt scales in Obama's favour: Washington Post

Washington, Oct.20 (ANI): The biggest swing vote in the current presidential election is likely to be in outer suburban communities, and according to the Washington Post, the Democrats are hoping to capitalize on economic unease and demographic shifts to overturn traditional Republican strengths.

In the past eight years, the Republicans have won the outer suburbs by huge margins, but now, according to the Washington Post, the Democrats are making significant inroads.

In the 2006 congressional elections, the Democrats secured 44 percent of the votes, and it is no secret that these outer suburbs form a large part of the electorate. The paper says that they could help decide who wins key states such as Florida, North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada.

Obama's chances of winning Virginia and its 13 electoral votes depend in part on whether he, too, can carry Prince William and Loudoun, which together grew by 157,000 people in the first five years of this decade. With that growth, the counties have shifted in ways that favor Democrats.

Sen. John McCain drew an estimated 8,000 people to a rally in Woodbridge on Saturday as his campaign intensified its efforts to compete in Northern Virginia. But interviews with voters and local elected officials and polling data suggest that Obama's prospects are enhanced by the downturn.

Obama showed particular strength in the exurbs in his primary battle against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. He won Prince William and Loudoun by wide margins.

Democrats are also benefiting from the growing number of ethnic minorities across Northern Virginia. Hispanic voters remain upset about Republican immigration policies, particularly in Prince William, where county officials launched a crackdown on undocumented residents.

The Democrats' ambitions in the exurbs are reflected in Obama's organization, which has six offices in Prince William and Loudoun, and in the four visits Obama and his running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., have made to the two counties. McCain has three offices in the counties, and Saturday's visit was his first to Prince William.(ANI)