President Barack Obama is headed to Charlottesville next Wednesday for a campaign event. While other parts of Virginia have gotten repeat visits this year from both Obama and Mitt Romney, Charlottesville has not.
University of Virginia Center for Politics analyst Geoff Skelley is tracking those campaign visits using an interactive Google map.
"They've been to major population centers," Skelley said, "So northern Virginia has particularly been a target, but also Tidewater and the Richmond area."
With the click of a mouse, Skelley is literally pinpointing each and every stop made this season by Romney, Obama, Paul Ryan and Joe Biden. So far, the map shows there's no pin on Charlottesville, but that should change Wednesday, August 29 when the president stops by UVA.
"Charlottesville is perhaps the most liberal or democratic location in the state," he said.
Skelley says Obama's mission in small town Charlottesville won't necessarily be to reach the most voters, but rather to make sure his liberal base gets out to the polls.
"There's a very small group of persuadable voters," he said. "Most people have their minds made up already, so now for each side it's about getting out your voters on Election Day."
That base of voters includes Obama campaign volunteer and UVA graduate student Jon Mellor.
"He's done a lot to support a lot of things at the university, a lot of the research programs that we have ongoing there," Mellor said, "And also he's been a great president, I think."
Despite the city's liberal leanings, Skelley says don't count out a visit from Romney or Ryan just yet.
"While Charlottesville may be very liberal, Albemarle County has a large percentage of Republican voters," he said.
As for that upcoming campaign stop, we know it is scheduled for UVA next Wednesday, but a specific time and place have yet to be announced.
