This post was written by Hatchet reporter Lindsay Corcoran

ARLINGTON, Va. – Obama volunteers have been sent out around northern Virginia to increase the visibility of their candidate in areas that are largely dominated by McCain supporters.

An Obama campaign office in Ballston, Va. deployed a couple of volunteers to the Crystal City area in Arlington, Va. where they were told to “break up” a group of McCain supporters that had gathered there.

“They wanted to increase our visibility in areas where there were only McCain supporters,” said Dave Sherler, a D.C. resident volunteering for the Obama campaign in Virginia. “We want to get our supporters our there just as much as the McCain campaign…We wanted to make sure that people weren’t just seeing McCain signs.”

Sherler and others arrived at 23 rd Street and Route 1 in Crystal City where McCain-Palin signs stuck up from the ground and many McCain supporters were stationed. After the arrival of the Obama volunteers, many of the McCain supports began to leave and Obama backers soon dominated the area.