Monday, February 23, 2009

Republican Target: Tom Perriello

If you think the Republican Party wasn't caught completely off guard by Tom Perriello's stunning victory over Virgil Goode in November's Congressional elections, look again. The national party is sponsoring campaign-style ads in this market blasting Perriello for supporting "Nancy Pelosi's" bailout legislation (they don't dare attack President Barack Obama, whose popularity is higher than any Repub since Reagan).

Fact is, the attack--done in some truly dim-witted, low-brow ads that look like they were made in somebody's garage and featuring the boys from the corner bar--goes after Perriello for some of the strongest and most popular parts of the bill, the parts that create jobs and help people directly. Even the criticisms that sound legit are so twisted that you'd never recognize them in the bill.

My guess is that Perriello terrified them and they want to get started early trying to soften him up for the next election. Perriello was recently named one of the Huffington Post's "hottest five" new members of Congress, both Democrats and Repubs. He's one of two Virginians on the list, the other 34-year-old Glenn Nye of Virginia Beach. Perriello is 35 and a former poverty lawyer who helped overthrow former African despot Charles Taylor, the kind of "war hero" I can appreciate. Compare that to George Bush's manly resume of cutting brush with a chain saw.

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