Thanks to Tom Perriello for this exclusive RK interview. As you probably know, Tom is the presumptive Democratic nominee to face Rep. Virgil Goode in Virginia's 5th congressional district. I believe Goode is beatable, although obviously it won't be easy. However, this district isn't monolithically "red," as Tim Kaine won it in 2005. Also, Tom has been raising a ton of money, has been busy organizing and getting around the district, and has drawn both local and national interest in his candidacy. Anyway, check out the interview and see what you think of Tom Perriello.
1. Why, in your own words, have you decided to run for the US House of Representatives this year? What convinced you to get involved in politics at this level?
Like so many in my generation, I felt called from an early age to devote my life to community service, because it felt so much more real than trying to change things through government. For over a decade, I have felt inspired to work on economic fairness in our communities and on ending atrocities from inside Darfur and Sierra Leone.
But I could only work in a broken system for so long before I began to understand how important it was to fix the system itself. In Darfur and West Africa, I saw how much of a difference a single Congressperson could make if s/he were willing to speak out and hold the Administration and State Department accountable. And the last few elections have made it clear how important it is for Democrats to reclaim the values debate and restore America's commitment to justice and the common good.
I believe we stand at a unique point in history. Our challenges are large enough that our only pragmatism is the idealism to think big and expand our sense of what's possible. I am running because I believe that politics should be seen as community service by other means. It can, and should, be a place to make people's lives better.
2: How do you plan to defeat Virgil Goode given how entrenched he is in a Republican-leaning district? Do you believe that running as a "faith-based progressive" will resonate in all parts of the 5th district?
We are going to win because we have a stronger movement on our side and better ideas for how to secure our country, our jobs, and our environment. Beating Rep. Goode will not be easy, but all the pieces are coming together:
1) Energy and Resources - We tripled Rep. Goode in fourth quarter fundraising, and raised more money inside Virginia in four months than he did all year. When we are outpacing an incumbent from the Appropriations Committee, you know that people are hungry for a new generation of leadership. Also the DCCC has put our race "in play," and if we hit our fundraising target this quarter, we will move into the top tier of their targeted races.
2) Grassroots - Our campaign has already logged over 1300 volunteer hours, and we are working hard to build the largest and most sophisticated grassroots network this district has ever seen. We are investing heavily in field, already have offices in Franklin County and Charlottesville, and will have an office in Danville by the end of this quarter. In a district the size of New Jersey, this race will be won on the ground.
3) Blue-mentum - Like much of America, our district is a swing district that is now trending blue. The wildly popular Mark Warner is on the ticket, Gov. Kaine is tirelessly devoted to building the party, and Obama just got more primary votes in the Fifth than all the Republicans combined. Meanwhile, Rep. Goode has gone from being a populist maverick to marching lockstep with President Bush and out of step with our independent district.
As for being a "faith-based progressive," I can tell you that voters respond to authenticity. My faith is a big part of who I am and why I've dedicated my life to justice, and most voters just want to know what I am all about. It also provides a common experience and language that resonates with voters in my district, especially in areas where Democrats have struggled in the past.
The rest of the interview with Tom Perriello is on the "flip."
3. Please tell us a little bit about yourself, particularly what you see as your major strengths? What are you most passionate about? What is your favorite book and why?
My sources of strength are my family and my faith. I have three siblings with three great spouses, seven nieces and nephews, four goddaughters, and two amazing parents. I also had the tremendous gift of four grandparents who lived into their 90s. My dad's father, Vito Anthony Perriello, came over from Italy with nothing and managed to send his three kids to college and work until he was 92. My mom's dad, whose name I carry, was a public school teacher and coach, a fireman and a World War II veteran who imparted his sense of public service to me from a young age.
My faith helps sustain me through difficult times, shapes my commitment to service, and defines my belief that we will ultimately have to answer for how we have treated the least among us.
My greatest passion is working with others to show that we can make politics work for people again. My work in some pretty rough spots at home and abroad has reinforced my belief that no problem is unsolvable when we have the political will to get it done.
As for books, I loved reading Charlie Wilson's War before going to Afghanistan a few years ago. Though he had some serious moral shortcomings, Wilson showed that one person in politics who does not care about getting credit can make a huge difference in people's lives.
4. In your opinion, was the Iraq war fundamentally flawed or simply mismanaged? At this point, would you favor an immediate withdrawal, a gradual exit strategy, or what?
The Iraq war was fundamentally flawed in more ways than one. We were wrong about our intelligence - not just the WMDs, but the even bigger mistake of not realizing that Al Qaeda considered Saddam Hussein an enemy. Like Brer Rabbit asking not to be thrown in the brier patch, we ended up removing a regime Osama Bin Laden hated while making it easy for them to pitch this as West vs. Islam, rather than rule of law vs. terror. President Bush, Rep. Goode, and others did not mean to make America less safe, but they have repeatedly committed the error of fighting on the battlefield Bin Laden wanted instead of on our terms. And in the meantime, we broke a 225-year American principle of opposing preventative strike and torture.
But now we have a mess that we can and must fix. There are solutions in Iraq but every General has agreed that they are political, not military solutions. For the past two years, I have been advocating for a N.E.W. plan for Iraq that uses troop reductions as leverage to force a new power-sharing arrangement that is at the heart of any successful strategy:
NEGOTIATE. Iraq will be stabilized by a negotiated political process, not military force. All Iraqi factions and neighbors must be included.
EMPOWER THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. Neither the US, nor the Iraqi government can lead this process. Only more impartial and legitimate international actors like the United Nations, EU and OIC can mediate the new talks.
WITHDRAW RESPONSIBLY. The US should respect the wishes of 78% of Iraqis and permanently and completely withdraw its military presence from Iraq under an agreed timetable supported by the Iraqi people.
Both parties have been wrong to focus on troop size as an end in itself. The goal of commitment to full withdrawal is to bring the Sunnis back to the table and reset the rules of governance. The military has done its part in Iraq, but the politicians have failed miserably to provide a strategy for victory. It is time for leaders who don't rest until the job is done.
5. Is it acceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons, and if not, what would you advocate doing about it?
No, it is not acceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons. The situation we find ourselves in today is a result of abject failure by both Presidents Clinton and Bush to salvage the NPT. President Bush has once again made things worse by choosing strategies of talking tough but negotiating weak. In fact, his tactics have repeatedly strengthened Ahmadinejad's hand.
6. What is your opinion of the FISA law passed by Congress this past summer? Should telecoms be granted retroactive immunity? What other changes, if any, should be made to the law?
Telecoms should absolutely not be granted any kind of immunity for illegal wiretapping. They not only broke the law, they broke the trust of people, and they should not get a free pass. Our Constitutional principles should be absolute in this regard, and we should not set a precedent that corporations are let off the hook for breaking the law.
7. Do you believe that "waterboarding" is torture? More generally, are "enhanced interrogation techniques" acceptable under any circumstances?
Waterboarding is torture, and torture is an affront to human dignity. America is better than that. It is also true that torture produces bad intelligence - false leads far more likely to distract us from the ticking time bomb than to lead us there. These tactics are lazy intelligence gathering requested by lazy leaders without the courage to do what it takes for America to produce the quality intel networks we had during the Cold War. But even if it were not a strategic disaster, it is wrong and America is better than this. We should not torture or waterboard. Period.
8. Do you support cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050? How would you go about doing that, and specifically would you support a revenue-neutral carbon tax on polluting industries?
We need to commit to independence from fossil fuels within a generation, and that will require major investments, a substantial shift in incentives, and a culture change as consumers. A revenue-neutral tax shift is one way to do this, but so are cap-and-trade systems that have worked to address problems such as acid rain.
As for the target, I most often hear from experts that we must draw the line at no more than a 2-degree Celsius temperature increase. Our goal must be set not by what seems politically possible but what will actually produce the end result we need.
9. Do you agree with Al Gore that our nation is now facing a "constitutional crisis?" If so, what would you advocate doing about it?
Gore raises many strong points. While I would have liked to see more leaders in the US Congress stand up on issues like habeas and wiretapping, I believe that a new Democrat President will end the Imperial Executive. Regardless, we must worry about what precedents have been set and do what is necessary to correct the path.
10. What is your position on trade issues? Do you believe that labor, environmental and human rights guarantees should be part of trade agreements? In general, would you describe yourself as more of a "fair trade" or "free trade" person?
Fair trade. We need strong protections for our labor and environmental standards, but the problem goes deeper than that. We need to put our workers and public health concerns first rather than tacking them on as afterthoughts, so human rights and environmental standards are critical. We live in a global economy, and to compete we must first prioritize the investments in our workers and communities that maximize our global competitiveness. These are not tweaks but major national commitments.
11. Would you favor comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to EARNED citizenship for people who pay a fine, learn English, and play by the rules? In general, what is your position on immigration into this country?
There's no doubt that we need comprehensive immigration reform. I think our starting point has to be enforcing laws that we know work while making sure that our enforcement strategies are not dehumanizing to immigrants, most of whom play by the rules and work hard in search of the American dream. The single best strategy for reducing illegal immigration is to reduce the availability of their jobs by holding employers accountable for hiring undocumented workers, starting with the most egregious cases. But I also believe we need to think beyond zero-sum games. For example, we need to work for better trade agreements and support international rights to organize so that we can help create job parity across borders to reduce the pull for illegal immigrants to this country and for our jobs overseas.
12. How would you describe your political philosophy: liberal, Teddy Roosevelt Progressive, Mark Warner centrist, or something else?
Like most Virginians, I am a big fan of Gov. Warner, whom I consider a results-driven Democrat. I believe a new generation of leaders is rejecting the old debates about right, left, and center to focus on right and wrong and what gets things done.
I consider myself a Common Good Democrat. I believe the central challenge of our time is restoring a personal and public commitment to being in this together and watching out for our neighbor. We face serious challenges like climate change, global terrorist networks, a possible recession, and the exodus of living-wage jobs. These are not problems we will solve without leaders who recommit this country to the common good.
He is also paying attention to fundraising.
Lowell, I think you should cross-post this at Big Orange. Getting Tom some additional attention - and money - would not be a bad idea. I have no idea how much traffic it will get, given how crazy the site is right now, but every bit helps, and at least a few additional people will find out about Tom.