Spotlight on Martinsville VA

This coming Wednesday, August 20th, Barack Obama is coming to Martinsville, along with Mark Warner, our past governor, who was extremely popular in Southern Virginia. The spotlight will be on the local economy here which has been severely impacted by major job losses in the textile and furniture industries. Henry County where Martinsville is located used to be an "economic engine" for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia, similar to what Northern Virginia is today. But no more. Today the county, along with the city, has a high rate of unemployment, and lots of work is being done to promote new economic development in this region. Obviously Obama is coming for political reasons, but I really don't care what the reason is, the area needs help. Any politician of national prominence like Barack Obama would do well in my opinion to take note of areas like ours, which too often get forgotten when budgets are put together. Maybe John McCain will be next. More excitement!