Virginia is the birthplace of founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and on Tuesday night was set to become one of the decisive states in electing the country's first ever African American president.

It is a state steeped in history, known as the "Mother of Presidents" due to the fact that it has given birth to eight U.S. chief executives.

It was also a state where a Democratic presidential candidate hasn't won since Lyndon Johnson in back 1964.

Having worked on several political campaigns in Ireland, I craved the chance of getting to see the American election up close. After all, this is the race that the whole world is looking to, you can see that in every national media outlet around the world, and nearly everyone has an opinion.

After stepping into the main Obama campaign office in Alexandria last week, I realized that some of the world has in fact come to help heave Senator Barack Obama over the victory line.

As I write this on Election Day, I am sitting in the campaign office. All around me I can hear the varying accents of the people here to campaign - French, Danish, Chinese, English and even Australian. People have traveled from all over America too in order to see this swing state turn blue.

In fact there are two other Irish guys here as well, working tirelessly to help rally supporters.

One of them, a fifth year student from Co. Wicklow, Howard Beary, is here on work experience and has found the campaign invigorating. He is lucky enough to have his parents over here for the year while he goes to boarding school in Dublin.

He is spending his mid term break volunteering to help fulfill part of his curriculum for school.

"We are blessed to be here witnessing history. I was chatting to a few of my buddies in Ireland last night last night, and they are all envious that I have this job while they are stuck in their day jobs back home," he says.

"It is incredible to see this up close, especially as there seems little doubt we are witnessing an even more historic day than when John F. Kennedy became the first Irish Catholic elected."

The Obama campaign has used technology to the max. His website has made it easy for anyone and everyone to donate money, make phone calls, participate in blogs and gather policy information.

From the Virginia campaign office all of this is evident.

There is a great buzz here, one which is felt by every volunteer, and everyone has a smile. New volunteers arrive each day, having signed up through the website.

The sheer size and power of Obama's campaign is incredible.

Every day over the last week there have been in total around 500 different volunteers in this office alone.

According to the campaign manager there are over 80 offices throughout Virginia.

These are remarkable figures.

It seems that Obama's campaign of hope has electrified these people to help in changing the face of America.

People here feel that they are really making a difference.You can see it when you knock on the doors here in Alexandria, a city with a population of around 130,000 people.

It is a real American suburban city where many of its inhabitants commute to work in nearby Washington, D.C.

Matt, 28, a native of Virginia who is volunteering colossal hours, summed it up best in chatting to me. "Last time for (John) Kerry I didn't even vote, he didn't appeal to me, but here we have a guy who appeals to anyone and everyone. He shows that anything can happen in America.

"After all, he is a black kid raised by a single white mother. He makes it look so easy. People are just sick and tired of Bush and McCain is only going to keep that Bush flame burning.

"Obama is the perfect antidote. He is fresh and he personifies hope and change. He is what makes me come out here to volunteer. That is why you see so many people out here. Obama just seems to have that presidential quality."

In Ireland a candidate would be lucky to have 50 volunteers over the course of the whole campaign. Even at that they would only be giving a couple of hours a day.

But here there are over 10 full-time employees and 500 volunteers working over 13 hours a day.

It's this work ethic that shocked me the most. Many of these people have never even seen Obama in person, let alone meet him, yet here they are giving a Trojan effort in an attempt to get him elected.

On Halloween night this office stayed open fully staffed until the small hours of the morning while people where walking by outside donned in all their costumes and celebrating the festivities.

Inside, well after midnight, canvas information packets were being made and routes marked up so no voter could be left behind in the next day of canvassing and phone calling. Nothing is being left to chance here.

This campaign which is full of volunteers is, to put it simply, incredibly professional.I n fact this seems like an army office instead of a campaign office, such is the professionalism.

Even those who can't volunteer pop in to show their support, and many leave with yard signs and window signs to display in their yards and homes.

They also come in bearing gifts in the form of food. The kitchen in the office is stacked with piles of food for the hungry volunteers, and when this election is over I am sure they could have enough left over to start a separate restaurant.

Keith Martin, the other Irish guy here, was former Labor Party leader Ruairi Quinn's director of elections in Dublin South in the last election. He has also been taken back with the amount of volunteers and effort seen from everyone throughout the office.

I have been to many different estates here knocking on the doors of middle income and lower income families. Some areas were supposedly favoring Senator John McCain, but I found the opposite.

The yard signs alone show how much Obama has an edge here.

Everyone you talk to at the doors discuss the economy. Many have lost retirement funds during the Wall Street crash.

They say McCain showed no leadership and Obama did.

That seems to have been the turning point, as well as McCain's choice of Sarah Palin which clearly annoys women more than men because they felt they were being taken for granted.

"McCain threw away his biggest advantage, his experience, by picking Palin," one former Republican voter told me. "How could I trust him after that?"

These are the swing voters being targeted by the Obama campaign. If these people get out to vote Obama should win this election according to the statistical experts in the office who can be seen running their numbers all day every day.

In many housing developments there is huge support for Obama, and people are only delighted to see Obama supporters knock on the door so they can express their support.

There are very few McCain-Palin yard signs on view throughout these areas; everywhere you look you see Obama/Biden ones.

This morning people in Virginia began to form lines for votes just after 4 a.m. for polling booths opening at 6 a.m. Lines have gone into the parking lot in many of the polling stations.

This bodes well for the Democratic Party as they are counting on a big turnout if Obama is going to win this state.

A record turnout now seems to be on the cards, and that victory line for Obama is one step closer.

This is putting a smile on many of the faces throughout the office, but the foot is still to the floor in trying to get as many people out to vote as possible.

Volunteers are still bursting through the doors looking for fresh work, be it phone calls, postering or driving elderly folks to the polls. No one is taking a break until the last vote has been cast.

At the moment there are bodies all over this office making phone calls and getting ready to knock on doors to get that final vote tally up. Surrounding them are posters and drawings which have slogans and phrases used to help rally the troops.

Just as you go to walk out of the office there is a set of drawings by elementary school kids hung up beside the door. Among them is a drawing of Obama entitled "The Dark Knight," and in the drawing Obama is depicted as the hero from recent Batman movie. This is what America might be searching for, their hero and knight to lead them onwards and upwards away from many hardships now being faced, such as war and economic recession. This is the person who has galvanized a nation. Will Obama be this hero? If his campaign is anything like his possible presidency to be then I certainly think so. Obama should not have been competitive here in Virginia, but he was. In fact he is more than that, as he is widely tipped to win this state. President George W. Bush back in 2004 won this state fairly easily by nine percentage points. But the Obama campaign has changed those figures in hope of a victory. The sheer volume of volunteers here in Alexandria, a city less than half an hour away from Washington, D.C. is astonishing and is a huge factor in this swing state. As I write Virginia is the state that seems certain to turn the Republican tide, and for the first time in 34 years a Democratic candidate might very well win the 13 electoral votes which are up for grabs. We all know if Obama wins Virginia he wins the White House. I think it is looking like a really good bet here and in turn that Obama will win the presidency. It's been extraordinary to be a little part of American, and indeed world, history.