Shenandoah County Republicans Rally

SHENANDOAH CAVERNS — E.W. Jackson called for a “return to the fundamentals” of government in his speech during the Shenandoah County Republican Committee “victory rally” Thursday night. 

Jackson, a clergyman and founder of Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake, was the featured speaker. He followed Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, and Suzanne Obenshain, wife of Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. 

The event packed the room at the Yellow Barn in Shenandoah Caverns. Committee Chairman Dave Ferguson said more than 250 people attended. 

Jackson, an author and speaker and activist for conservative causes, lost to George Allen in the Republican primary earlier this year for the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate. 

Jackson asserted his support for Allen as well as the Republican presidential ticket Thursday, saying the current administration is “seeking to lead us to a place the Constitution would not follow.” 

“We are kicking [President Barack Obama] out of our White House,” he said. 

Jackson also criticized the health reform legislation its opponents derisively labeled Obamacare, saying it was “rammed down the throats” of Americans, and that the plan is in violation of the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, which delineates the powers given to the federal government and those reserved for the states. 

All the night’s speakers emphasized the importance of getting out to the polls on Nov. 6, particularly because of Virginia’s swing state status. 

Gilbert said he knows he has called other election years the most important of “our time.” 

“I hate to be the boy that cried wolf, but if the stakes have ever been higher [than this year], I have not been aware of it,” he said. “We have got to turn out our neighbors on Election Day.”

Historically, Shenandoah County has voted overwhelmingly Republican in statewide and national elections.

In the 2008 presidential election, State Board of Election statistics show 62.45 percent of Shenandoah County residents voted for the Republican candidate John McCain and 35.95 percent voted for Obama. 

Contact Kaitlin Mayhew at 574-6290 or kmayhew@dnronline.com