By JOHN ARUNDEL
Managing Editor
 
In 2000, it was Palm Beach County which tipped the scales of the presidential election. In 2008, it may have just been western Prince William County which handed the presidency to Democrat Barack Obama.
 
And that's where scores of Alexandrians headed Monday night to catch one final pre-election day glimpse of Barack Obama, before he headed home to Chicago for a fitful sleep and an even longer day of poll-watching Tuesday.
 
"He'll need to rest after this campaign," said Alexandria political activist Boyd Walker, who shivered in the cold with 92,000 other party faithfuls Monday night at the Prince William County Fairgrounds. "It was a hard-fought victory."
 
Mindful of the vital role that traditionally Republican and ethnically diverse Prince William County may have in tipping Virginia from Red to Blue in the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama's advisers held his first rally of the general election season in Prince William -- and their last.
 
"Barack Obama has showed us that he believes in Virginia," said Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), a law school classmate of Obama's and the first governor to endorse him. "He started and ended his presidential campaign right here."
 
So late Monday night, after Obama's campaign plane touched down in Manassas, more than 92,000 supporters were waiting for him at the fairgrounds. They had been waiting in the cold for hours to hear the Illinois Senator deliver his final speech before Election Day.
 
"I've witnessed a lot of change," said Wendell McAllister, a retired car salesman who drove in from Riverdale, Md. "I was a server at John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Dinner in 1960 and I was there for Martin Luther King's March on Washington in 1968...But nothing is bigger than the change that Barack Obama will bring to this country."
 
Standing nearby, homemaker Maureen Smith of Nokesville said she had been amazed by Obama's campaign organization in Virginia. "It was just amazing to watch his whole operation," said Smith, who posted four Obama/Biden signs in her McCain-leaning neighborhood. "They are so dedicated to volunteering and organizing."
 
Dressed head to toe in black, Obama stepped onto the stage shortly after 10 pm to enthusiastic roars from the crowd and U2 tunes blasting from giant speakers. He delivered an electrifying 24-minute speech, punctuated by frequent applause, and which enunciated many of the populist themes of his 16-month campaign for the presidency.
 
"I've been deeply humbled by this journey," Obama said."You have filled me with new hope for our future...I have one word for you Virginia: Tomorrow...We are one day away from change in America."
 
Obama said the nation was gripped by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and that President George W. Bush was trying to "pass the shovel to John McCain." As president, he promised, "I will grow this economy so everyone will succeed...and I will end this war."
 
Nodding her head with approval was Tanna Moore, 39, a day care provider from Manassas, who said her husband Sterling recently lost his job at a dog food manufacturer nearby which shut its doors and laid everyone off. She registered to vote -- for the first time -- three months ago.
 
"You can tell John McCain I don't have health insurance," Moore said. "You know I will be first in line to vote at 6 am tomorrow and you know who I'm voting for."
 
As is tradition, Alexandria held an election eve rally of its own Monday, with a Jumbotron on Market Sqaure and entertainment provided by renowned folk singer Joan Baez, who Rep. Jim Moran (D-8) implored to step on to stage and sign "Amazing Grace."
 
On Sunday, actress Debra Winger ("An Officer and A Gentleman") dropped by Alexandria Democratic Party headquarters to encourage volunteers at a phone bank.
 
On Tuesday morning, Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner and his wife Lisa Collis voted at Lyles Crouch Traditional Academy, near his home in Old Town. When asked by reporters how he felt about the race, Warner responded with a smile, "I'm cautiously optimistic." Warner won his bid against former Gov. Jim Gilmore by more than 30 percent. Offered a plate of free cookies and cupcakes by students who were operating a bake sale, Warner politely declined, joking that it "might violate Senate ethics rules."
 
A multi-millionaire former cellular phone magnate, Warner paid $5 for a plate of the baked goods, then implored reporters to follow suit, to stimulate the economy.
 
Politicos in heavily Democratic Alexandria remained optimistic most of the day. "Obviously if he carries Virginia it will be an early night for us," said former Del. Marian Van Landingham, one of 13 Electors in the State of Virginia. "Then I'll get to go to Richmond and cast that ballot for Barack Obama."
 
Throughout the day Tuesday, lines at the polls were long throughout rainy Alexandria, but Alexandria Democratic Committee Chair Susan Kellom said things went off with nary a hitch. "Despite long lines at some precincts, it was smooth sailing most of the day," she said.
 
To view photos of Barack Obama Election Eve rally and voting in Alexandria, see PHOTOS.
 
To view the most up-to-date election results in Alexandria, log on to:
https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2008/07261AFC-9ED3-410F-B07D-84D014AB2C6B/Unofficial/1_s.shtml