First Lady Michelle Obama Urges Supporters to Get Out the Vote in Fredericksburg

In an emotional plea at the Thursday, first lady Michelle Obama urged supporters get out the vote and underscored the importance of Virginia's results in the November election. 

"It could all come down to what happens in just a few battleground states like Virginia," Obama said, in her second Virginia campaign stop of the day. 

After she told several personal stories about her relationship with the president, Obama urged supporters to help their friends and neighbors register to vote. Stressing the idea that every vote counts, she said that efforts in Virginia would be crucial. 

"We will win this state, and if we win Virginia, we'll be well on our way to put Barack back in the White House," Obama said, after which the crowd broke out in chants of "four more years!"

The first lady received a warm welcome from her Fredericksburg supporters, including Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw and University of Mary Washington professor Denis Nissim-Sabat. Ken Darensbourg, a professor at Northern Virginia Community College, led the crowd in a recitation of the pledge, while Elizabeth Johns, from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fredericksburg, sang the national anthem. 

Virginia voted for Barack Obama in the 2008, though for 44 years, the state was solidly Republican. Virginia is now considered a swing state. Mitt Romney also in Fairfax City on Thursday, demonstrating just how intensely both candidates are working to win Northern Virginia votes. 

In 2008, Obama said, her husband carried the state with just 235,000 votes. "And that might sound like a lot. But when you break it down, that's 100 votes per precinct. Think about it. 100 votes. That could mean just a couple votes in your neighborhood. That could be just one vote in your apartment complex." 

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