Perriello–Not what the package described
The outcome in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District was one of the biggest surprises of last year’s elections. Perriello did the typical rural Democrat move of running as a compassionate Democrat, hoping to confuse voters on just where he stood on important issues as abortion. He even had a volunteer tithing program that encouraged his supporters to volunteer for causes other than his. A bold move, but combined with a surprisingly weak Goode campaign and strong turnout in the major cities. It should be noted the jury is still out on if Charlottesville’s student population, which may have included some individuals registered in another state in addition to the commonwealth. While Charlottesville did see a rise, it was a 3% rise parallel to the state’s own roughly 3% rise. Perhaps someone more intimately familiar with where students are registered with some time on their hands could break down the numbers. I went to UVA but never registered there, as I knew it would never be “home.” The bottom line, though, is that Perriello squeaked by with about 800 votes while McCain was winning the district by about 2%.
The bottom line, though, is that some individuals, fed up with Washington and seeing Goode as part of the problem, may have been comfortable enough with Perriello on social issues due to his “faith-based” campaign. Indeed, abortion is not even mentioned on the issues page for his campaign.
However, one of my favorites, former Charlottesville Council Member and local radio talk host Rob Schilling (a folk hero during my time at UVA due to the fact that he was the first Republican in a decade to serve on the Council of the People’s Republic) has been watching Perriello’s statements and has found that the Congressman is to the far left on this issue. Indeed, he even made it clear during his own interview with Rob what his position was:
On August 12, 2008, then candidate Tom Perriello appeared on The Schilling Show to discuss his candidacy for United States Congress. By popular demand, at the end of this post is the podcast of that interview.
During the November 2008 election, many people were duped by Tom’s “volunteer tithing” schemeand his pious proclamations of “faith.”
Although, asked several times and in several different ways during this interview, by both the host and a caller, Tom Perriello was unable to come up with any instance under which abortion should be legally limited.
It should be pointed out that both Rob and Tom are practicing Catholics, and as such are in a very unique position to discuss this issue.
Rob also cites several other sources, but the post is a must read. With the district being more purple than we thought, this will certainly be a battleground in 2010, particularly without Obama at the top of the ticket.
