RK ARCHIVE - Va-5th situation. "None are so blind who..."

I recently participated in a Kos thread about the Va 5th race, expressing my disappointment at the continued blindness/pigheadness of the Dem leadership in that district and the candidates they keep putting up. Some very kind people participated in that discussion. bpkybe, teacherken, Mike Stark and others. They tried to convince me that I was short changing the current candidate opposing Virgil Goode, Tom Perriello.

(As an aside, I am a partisan Democrat living in the Southside for years, forced to work out of state due to economic conditions. My wife and daughter remain, live, work, and attend school there. I have an interest in seeing it prosper.)

In that thread I outlined my reasons for thinking Tom would have a great deal of difficulty based on the continued actions of the Charlottesville centered district Party leadership.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/...
Replying to Mr. Stark I outlined those reasons once again and looked quickly at the Danville paper.

There in black and white I had all my arguments reinforced. And this was done after writing the rant.

Note that for about 1/3 of the District the candidate has gotten NO contributions. 0. Right there the dynamic is set once again. If he can't generate any contributions from that large portion of the district, with the bulk coming from Charlottesville...and the incumbent is setting him up as a New York/California liberal (with some perceived justification)....all the best intentions in the world won't do the job necessary to get Goode out.

From a retailer who has to convince people to part with their money, then provide service afterwards...long term relationships are very hard to encourage and once established/maintained. very hard to break. Especially when you parachute in a new out of area candidate every couple of years.

Unless there is an overwhelming sweep in the General against the GOP, then its good night Tom. But if he is truly interested in serving the WHOLE district, not just the area he's familiar with... then I suggested some things he might do. So maybe in 2010 or 2012. But truthfully this district's vote will not be there in Congress for the very real reforms necessary in the coming next few years.

I wouldn't mind meeting the candidate or the Party leadership to talk about this, but my time there is short plus their web site is dead, no links to schedules in the Southside. Nothing for an average citizen to look at or plan his limited weekend around.
http://danville.5thcddems.org/

So good luck Mr. Perriello, maybe it will work out. To the C'ville Dem Party leadership. Thanks for dropping the ball and not preparing for the day when Goode could be history. A Democrat is needed there Jan 2009, and you blew it. If you wait long enough, the Warner/Kaine administrations or Goode's own silliness will do your work for you.

Comments

RidgeCook is right, and I have met Perriello... (chspkheel - 2/12/2008 2:30:01 PM)

In keeping with full disclosure, I did support and work for Dave Shreve who was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 5th, but Tom was able to raise a lot more money with nearly 80% of contributors at the time of the first report, coming from out of state. The fact is, money is money no matter where it comes from.

I had a chance to meet Tom Periello shortyly after the 3rd Quarter reporting period and talked with him for quite a while. I can honestly say that his heart is in the right place but his politics work best in NOVA. RidgeCook is correct, Tom comes from privilege and money knows money.

The one place that RidgeCook was wrong was that Lynchburg City is in the 6th and not the 5th CD. But when you take into account that Appomattox, Campbell, Pittsylvania, and Henry County have Dem Performance at about 36 to 38%, that is a huge problem. While I am excited that Democrats of Faith are standing up to Rightwing Religious Zelots and saying stop hijacking my beliefs in a higher power for your own exclusive bully pulpit of devine selfrighteousness, Tom wearing his faith on his sleeve gives me significant pause.

The 5th CD is 80 to 90% Baptist or non-Catholic. Also, the 5th CD's median age is somewhere around 40 to 45 years old (lots of seniors and mature adults). The youth vote is heavily squewed to Charlottesville. Also, outside of Charlottesville in the 5th CD the average household income is around $21,000 per year compared to Charlottesville and Albemarle County of over $45,000 per year. Huge difference.

I agree with Lowell, Tom is an impressive person. I salute him and everything he has done thus far in his life, but no one in the 5th CD outside of the Charlottesville area cares what he did in Darfur or Afghanistan. The "Common good for the Commonwealth" doesn't really mean much when historically that was code for if it helps the wealthy elite, then it will flow down to the masses. Well, shi* flows downhill too and people living south of the Charlottesville area and NOVA generally feel that is what they do to the rest of Virginia (ROVA). There is a massive disconnect between NOVA and ROVA (south and west of I-95), as well as a massive disconnect between the Charlottesville area and the rest of the 5th CD.

At this point, I'm more concerned what effect Tom's candidacy has on the top of the ticket come November. I'm not overly concerned about Mark Warner, he will do just fine. My fear is that if Virginia is a 50/50 state come late October/early November, will Tom hurt out chances to go Democrat for the Presidential? Virgil is a real SOB, but he is their SOB. I'm not trying to boo hoo Tom's efforts or campaign, but lets be realistic about our chances here, between 5 to 10% of pulling off the upset. It is going to take more than hatin' Virgil to beat him.

You're missing the point (jsalt - 2/13/2008 2:02:43 AM)

If you haven't met Tom (full disclosure, I'm a friend and contributor), I suggest you do your research and meet him personally before passing judgment on his chances this fall. Don't trust conventional wisdom when this maverick has yet to show his cards. I believe you undervalue the opportunity of this race and Tom's talents by rushing to premature conclusions.

A couple points about Tom's race that are misunderstood in the original post. First, Tom has significant fundraising from within the district. Published reports mistakenly omitted his Act Blue contributions, a good number of which were small donors from the district. Furthermore, I know Tom is going to invest in a grassroots organizing strategy that is going to organize throughout the Southside in a way that has never been done before. Finally, I'm concerned about the general negative sentiments expressed in these posts. There are few Democrats that can effectively change the parameters of a debate to favor the Democratic agenda. Tom is one of the few that I've ever seen who can effectively do this. To denigrate his chances before having ever met him is a slight to all of us who believe in the possible, despite conventional thinking.

Why disrespect our Democratic chances this fall before seeing what this boy can do?