BARACK OBAMA
October 25, 2012

“It’s up to you, Virginia. You’re going to have to make a choice. It’s up to the young people here to decide what kind of future you want for yourselves.”

President Barack Obama was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of 15,000 supporters at Byrd Park at the feet of the Carillon. Just 12 days before the election, President Obama rallied Richmonders as part of his two-day “America Forward!” tour through six swing states.

If Virginia helped make Obama the nation’s first Black president in 2008, the election in 2012, had become, in part, a referendum on the signature achievement of Obama’s first term: his healthcare legislation known as Obamacare. Once again, Virginia–and its capital, a Democratic Party stronghold–were critical to his election. Ultimately, the city and the Commonwealth held for Obama.

President Barack Obama at the Carillon, 2012, Courtesy of the Richmond
Times-Dispatch