sparked a lot of attention, until recently.
Technically part of Northern Virginia, which has been waxing for Democrats lately -- and now going strong for Obama -- Manassas Park has both a name both in old Civil War history and in modern-day immigration controvery.
In his final campaign appearance before Tuesday's election, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is planning a rally Monday night in Manassas Park.It will be Obama's 11th trip to the commonwealth since the end of the primary campaign. He began the general election campaign season with Virginia stops in Bristol and Manassas.
The campaign has not released the time and place where Obama will appear.
City officials have not been officially contacted by the Obama camp, but are considering using Signal Hill Park or Manassas Park High School as a rally location if they are, City Manager Mercury T. Payton said.
Campaign officials say Obama will talk about the economy, affordable health care and tax relief for middle class families at the rally.
Given Obama's ability to turn out enormous crowds, some on the WaPo Blog are speculating it might be held at Nissan Pavilian, an outdoor concert venue.
While we await further news, however, I'd like to tell all of you a bit about both the historic and modern history of Manassas and Manassas Park. While some speculate about Obama's choice to issue his final BANG in a state with only 13 electoral votes based on down-ticket political considerations, I think there is a deeper message.
As background, Manassas was the site of the first major land battle of the Civil War in 1861:
On July 16, 1862, the untried Union army under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville.On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements (one brigade arriving by rail from the Shenandoah Valley) extended and broke the Union right flank.
The Federal retreat rapidly deteriorated into a rout. Although victorious, Confederate forces were too disorganized to pursue. Confederate General Bee and Col. Bartow were killed. Thomas J. Jackson earned the nom de guerre "Stonewall."
By July 22, the shattered Union army reached the safety of Washington.
This battle convinced the Lincoln administration that the war would be a long and costly affair.
Over 60,000 soldiers fought; nearly 5000 died. Notably, the Confederacy won. This battle was one of the reasons that the Civil War became widely known as the war of Brother Against Brother.
Nowadays, a different brotherly struggle is at hand.
While Northern Virginia as a whole has experienced a 25% population boom since 1990, Manassas Park has grown by a whopping 77%.
Just far enough away from D.C. and the burgeoning and dysfunctional Tysons Corner neo-metropolis to be barely affordable, the meteoric growth has been largely fueled by immigration:
Between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of Hispanic residents in the city rose from 4.7 to 15.1 percent, according to census statistics. Since 2000, it has risen to more than 25 percent.
This comes with its share of the expected attendant controversy, not just about who the "real Virginians", but who the real Americans are.
On our first day on the road we arrived in Manassas, Virginia, not far from Washington D.C. Our goal was to revisit the intense and controversial debate on immigration that has been taking place there.A year ago the Prince William County supervisors launched a crackdown on undocumented immigrants. They passed a resolution whose outstanding feature allows local law enforcement to inquire about the immigration status of people they suspect of committing a crime or misdemeanor (even jaywalking.) Officers can also report undocumented immigrants to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation processing.
Since then, the Latino population in the county appears to have plummeted.
A citizen's billboard speaking out about the inherent racism of local government poliies sparked a lot of attention, until recently.
So, what better place for Obama to host his final rally to send several different messages:
1. The Civil War is, both literally and figuratively, over
2. Northern Virginia is also the "Real America"
3. Legal immigrants are also the "Real America.
4. The poor and middle class are also the "Real America"
5. And, most importantly, no matter what issues we disagree on, we should not let them divide us as Brother Americans
I think his venue choice is a symbolic stroke of genius. I am going to be there. How many good Americans do you think will be my "brothers in arms"?