WASHINGTON (AP) — A freshman Democrat in a Republican district, Rep. Tom Perriello hit a dubious trifecta: He voted for President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill, cap-and-trade climate legislation and the health care law.
Now Obama, battling to limit Democrats’ election losses even as he defends his own record, is heading to Perriello’s southside Virginia district to try to salvage the congressman’s tough but unexpectedly resilient re-election bid.
Perriello’s bruising campaign against Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt has been a favorite example for both the left and the right this year as they’ve vied to define the midterm congressional elections for voters.
To the GOP, seeking to make the election a referendum on Obama’s policies as they push to seize control of the House, Perriello is Exhibit A. They argue that Democrats like him have arrogantly ignored the will of voters and pushed a big-government agenda – earning themselves a drubbing at the polls.
But for Obama and Democrats, Perriello is the poster boy for supporting policies that have gotten a bad rap – proof that it’s possible to cast politically tricky votes, defend them unapologetically, stand next to an increasingly unpopular president, and survive.
So far, Perriello’s campaign has defied the early predictions of strategists in both parties and prognosticators, staying competitive until the end. He still has an uphill fight to keep his seat.
That’s where Obama comes in. At a rally Friday night in Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia, Obama will help push to the polls young and African-American voters – the ones who helped propel Perriello to victory by fewer than 1,000 votes in 2008.
Hurt said Friday that the president’s visit amounted to a “Hail Mary pass” by Perriello.
“I think it’s refreshing to see that he’s now embracing the president in this late hour,” Hurt said of his opponent. “I think it shows that he recognizes that his campaign, up to this point, is not convincing people of his commitment to the people of the 5th District.”
It’s something of a gamble for the president, who could end up sharing the blame if Perriello loses.
If Perriello wins, though, Obama’s help could position him to counter the finger-pointing that’s sure to follow next week’s elections. If a steadfast ally of the president’s marquee policies can survive a tough race in a conservative district, it would undercut the notion that the contests are purely a referendum on Obama.
Jessica Barba, Perriello’s spokeswoman, noted that he broke with the president on some important issues, including opposing the new financial regulation law and calling for the ouster of top White House economic advisers.
But she acknowledged that Perriello has earned outsized attention from the left and right alike for his refusal to back away from Obama and his policies during his campaign, unlike many other vulnerable Democrats who have toiled to distance themselves.
“It’s quite astounding that a congressman who has basically stood by his record and not tried to run from it is an anomaly in Washington,” Barba said. “He basically has defied the conventional wisdom and has defied the odds so far.”
Obama has drawn criticism in recent weeks for seeming to suggest that voters are simply too scared or worried to comprehend the good his policies have done, or appreciate the lawmakers who backed them.
“My hope is that those people are rewarded for taking those tough votes,” Obama told Jon Stewart this week on “The Daily Show.” The example he cited: Tom Perriello.
