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A downpour showered President Barack Obama Saturday at his outdoor campaign event in Glen Allen where he told a wet but excited crowd of 900 people that his purpose is to "rebuild our economy so that it lasts."

"That's our central purpose," Obama said. "That's what this campaign is about. That's what I've been working on for the last three and one-half years. That's why I'm running for a second term as president of the United States."

In the final hours of his two-day, five stop campaign blitz through the Old Dominion, Obama delivered essentially the same stump speech at the historic Walkerton Tavern and Gardens that he delivered Friday in Hampton and Virginia Beach, where he focused on strengthening the middle class.

Obama said the "top-down" economic policies put forward by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney are the same ones that created THE current economic crisis, which led to Obama taking office during the worst recession since the Great Depression.

"We did this and it didn't work," Obama said. "We can't afford to go back to the top-down economics. We need somebody who believes in middle-out economics, a bottom-up economics.... When working people do well, everybody does well. That means businesses have more customers."

US Rep. Robert C."Bobby" Scott, D-Newport News, whose district includes parts of Richmond, took to the stage before the president arrived at the event to tell the crowd that Virginia must go for Obama like it did in 2008 to keep the president in the White House.

Virginia is seen as a key swing state that must be carried by either candidate to ensure an election victory.In 2008, Obama became the first Democrat to carry Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

【新聞快訊】

美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬7月14日來到弗吉尼亞州府里士滿附近一個小鎮(zhèn)上大發(fā)表演講時遭遇暴雨，但始終無人為他撐傘。

奧巴馬當天向鎮(zhèn)上900多名市民發(fā)表了批評共和黨競選對手羅姆尼的演說。批評的言論不足為奇。令人稱奇的是天氣突變，很快變成瓢潑大雨。奧巴馬全身濕透，但競選演講絲毫不受影響。

目前有民調顯示奧巴馬與羅姆尼的支持率非常接近，11月的大選日益迫近，奧巴馬絲毫不敢怠慢。一直以來，奧巴馬都把對手描繪成一個不接觸普通百姓的億萬富翁。在當天的演講中，奧巴馬繼續(xù)與聽眾分享自己年幼時全家乘大巴出行的簡樸度假經(jīng)歷，試圖拉近與底層民眾的距離。

同時，奧巴馬還警告聽眾：“在接下去的4個月，我的對手會把更多的巨款投入到抹黑我的廣告中。基本上，這些廣告就是說國內經(jīng)濟并不理想，而這都是奧巴馬的責任。這也許可以成為一個贏得大選的計劃，卻成不了創(chuàng)造工作機會或幫助中產(chǎn)階級的計劃，也無法振興我們的經(jīng)濟。”

演講快結束的時候，雨勢更大了，奧巴馬還不忘對糟糕的天氣開開玩笑：“我就要講完了，不過反正大家都被淋濕了，也無所謂，只是很多人發(fā)型不保了。”

弗吉尼亞州是重要的搖擺州，2008年總統(tǒng)大選中，奧巴馬成為自1964年的林登·約翰遜以來，第一位贏得弗吉尼亞州的民主黨總統(tǒng)候選人。

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（來源：滬江英語 編輯：Julie）