Perriello uses July recess to take campaign message to the streets

CHATHAM — There was no faceoff on the street last week when Rep. Tom Perriello visited the town where state Sen. Robert Hurt, his opponent in November, practices law and runs his campaign to capture the 5th District seat in Congress.

Perriello, a Democrat seeking his second term in one of the nation’s most-watched midterm races, is using Congress’ July recess to tour the main streets and talk to people in 14 towns and cities about health care, banking laws and any spontaneous question a constituent might ask.

Hurt demonstrated his own capacity for grassroots campaigning by capturing 48 percent of the vote in the Republican primary election in June, overwhelming six candidates who also sought the party nomination.

On Wednesday, Perriello’s tour took him right past the front door of Hurt’s law/campaign office. Hurt wasn’t in sight, although his car was parked out front with its windows open in hot weather — perhaps a metaphor for the campaign to come.

Sean Harrison, Hurt’s campaign manager, glanced down the street as Perriello’s group ap-proached — and stepped back inside the office.

A couple of hours later, Harrison sent out a news release saying that Hurt supports Arizona’s immigration law and demanding to know Perriello’s position on the controversial measure.

It was another of the early, and fairly routine, jabs in what’s likely to become an intense cam-paign. Both candidates say they will focus on jobs and the economy.

“Illegal immigration is a jobs and spending issue,” Hurt said in the news release, adding that “as Virginia’s next congressman” he would “secure our borders, enforce the immigration laws” and “make sure amnesty is not an option” for people who are in the country illegally.

Perriello’s spokeswoman, Jessica Barba, issued this response: “Tom just voted to send an addi-tional 1,200 agents to the Southwest border while Senator Hurt continues to hurl baseless attacks from the sidelines. That’s the difference between them: Tom produces results while Senator Hurt is full of rhetoric.”

The most unscripted bout in the campaign so far has involved debates. Hurt, during a campaign stop in Charlottesville on June 12, indicated to a reporter that he was open to debates. Perriello quickly announced he, too, was eager for debates that included independent candidate Jeff Clark, of Danville.

A few days later, Hurt issued a statement saying he would not participate in debates that in-clude Clark, whose stated goal is taking votes away from Hurt.

Exchanges like those occur on the media face of the campaign.

The race is more likely to be won in street-level campaigning, in which both candidates have demonstrated a strong work ethic.

Hurt has been a state-level politician for eight years, starting in the House of Delegates in 2001, and has captured more than 60 percent of the vote in each of the four elections he has faced.

Perriello, then a first-time candidate, surprised most political observers two years ago by de-feating former Rep. Virgil Goode by 723 votes.

Since then, he has spent much time mingling with residents of the Charlottesville-to-Danville district, including holding more than 20 town-hall meetings last summer where many people ob-jected strongly to the health care bill.

Although he voted for the health care bill, Perriello has said he thinks his re-election chances depend mostly on the economy’s strength going into November.

During his visit to Chatham on Wednesday, Perriello’s status as the incumbent congressman was apparent. People recognized him on the street and stopped to talk.

Donnie Ward, of Gretna, crossing the street with his 9-year-son, Jacob, said: “That’s your con-gressman. Shake his hand.”

Warren Trivett, of Chatham, whose belt buckle proclaimed his status as an Air Force veteran, talked with Perriello about the Veterans Administration and health care.

“I voted for you last time,” Trivett said.

After Perriello finished talking, Trivett indicated he’d vote for him again, mostly because of his health care vote.

“That’s my bottom line,” Trivett said. “There should be at least basic health care for everybody,” he said.

Minutes later, another Chatham-area resident gave Perriello a grilling on several issues.

Barbara Hudson, an attorney, demanded to know the congressman’s positions on issues includ-ing broadband Internet access to rural areas, funding the development of industrial parks and uranium mining — which is proposed in the Chatham area.

“You are not going to find someone fighting harder for broadband,” Perriello told her, adding that the federal stimulus bill he voted for already is paying to bring wires carrying the fastest-available service to schools throughout the 5th District in what’s known as “middle-mile broad-band.”

“What about last mile?” Hudson asked. “Many of us live in hollows” where signals don’t reach, she said.

Perriello explained that the wired service to schools is expected to include towers to extend the signal over wider areas. “The Internet is no longer a luxury, it is a prerequisite,” Perriello told her.

Hudson then said many citizens wonder why Congress is making $2.5 million available for a Pittsylvania County industrial park that has only two tenants. She called it “a failed industrial park” and an idea two centuries old.

“I disagree with you on the 19th century model,” Perriello said. “I think we have got to still manufacture things and build things. And there is real hope in that facility. We have got a bunch of people interested in locating there now.”

Hudson replied: “That’s what they always say. Are you going to audit them to make sure the money goes where it is supposed to?”

Perriello answered, “We are not throwing money. We know what we are doing. There is a plan there.”

Hudson then switched to questions about uranium.

“Are you supporting Obama’s move toward nuclear energy?” she asked.

“I am,” Perriello replied.

Hudson then asked, “Do you think that’s going to affect this area? Do you support uranium min-ing?”

Perriello answered, “No, that’s a different question of where you mine the stuff from where you produce it,” adding that he favors building new reactors at generating plants where one or two reactors already exist.

“We don’t have anything clean that can compare to that right now,” in terms of generating power without releasing pollutants into the air, Perriello said.

“But I think the cheapest energy is the energy we don’t buy in the first place, and that efficiency and cutting overall energy consumption is the first step” in meeting electricity needs, he said.

Hudson then said, “Good, I like the way you are talking.”