Photos: Politicians Rally Volunteers in Mount Vernon

Campaign volunteers at the Mount Vernon Obama For America office were preparing to register voters Sunday morning when a few special guests paid a visit.

Former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, Congressman Jim Moran (D-8th District), Virginia Democratic Party chair Brian Moran, and actor Justin Long visited the OFA office as part of the DNC/OFA "Gotta Vote" bus tour. The tour will be visiting different towns across Virginia this week to rally voters.

Speakers rallied Mount Vernon campaign volunteers to make the final push to register voters by the deadline of Oct. 15.

“What I said in there, Northern Virginia, Virginia overall, is unbelievably important to the country. That’s why I said, ‘Send me where it’s most important for people to vote,’” Granholm said. “They sent us here because this place is the epicenter of the political universe now and people have to get out and vote. They just have to because the future that they have depends on what happens in Virginia.”

“There was obvious a tremendous about of enthusiasm, energy, and commitment,” Brian Moran said. “The issues are important and the choices are clear, and these volunteers get it and they’re going to do everything they can to bring it home on Nov. 6.”

Long, 34, got involved with the Obama campaign in 2008 after being invited to campaign with actor Kal Penn in New Hampshire. He said that meeting so many young voters inspired him to get involved in campaigning and canvassing.

"It really blew my mind how aware and motivated and passionate they were about something that I, when I was their age, could almost care less about," Long said. "College is a very self-indulgent time, as it should be, and I took that opportunity to address the concerns I had. I wanted to be an actor, wanted to meet girls. It was very superficial. I was so impressed and I admired these kids who were thinking so thoughtfully and altruistically and the more stops we made and the more kids I met, the more inspired I became. This time around I feel like there’s just an even greater call to do things like this."

Long participated in the bus tour in Florida and in Ohio. He visited Mount Vernon and Richmond on Sunday.

OFA volunteers have helped a considerable number of people register to vote in the Mount Vernon area. Volunteer Michael Angeloni is the voter registration captain for the Huntington precinct. He and his team have been registering around 10 people a week.

"We're getting ready to register people to vote between now and Monday," he said of the preparations on Sunday morning.

Volunteer Adele McClure said canvassing and registering voters has been a "learning experience."

"People are definitely aware," she said. "A lot of people want to fill out the voter registration form. They understand the importance of registering to vote."

To learn more about voter registration, visit the Fairfax County Board of Elections website.