Perriello, T Rep

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tom-perriello-would-be-a-governor-with-a-backbone_us_58e3ba81e4b0f4a923b241bah wax<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">US Congress is a great representative body, but that doesn’t mean that all its representatives are great. During my 40 years in Congress, there were many occasions when I was proud of my colleagues, but there were more times than I can count when a colleague would tell me he or she wanted to follow their conscience, but that doing so would risk angering some constituency or one special interest or another.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">But one of my colleagues stuck out because he never made an excuse when it came time to take the tough votes: Representative Tom Perriello. Perriello, who is now a candidate for Virginia Governor in the June 13 Democratic primary, faced a tougher political landscape than most.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">He squeaked into office from Virginia’s conservative Fifth Congressional District by a smaller margin – 727 votes – than any other Member of Congress elected that year. Nonetheless, he was always willing to vote his conscience, even when it meant taking on the powerful corporate interests that were willing to spend millions of dollars to undermine his candidacy.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">Perriello faced massive pressure from Tea Party Republicans and polluters to oppose the Waxman-Markey climate bill I authored as Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. The legislation would have dramatically cut pollution and shifted energy to locally produced solar and wind, helping create jobs throughout the nation and in Virginia. It faced hundreds of millions of dollars in attacks by oil and coal companies who wanted to protect the status quo.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">Too many Democrats from less conservative districts than Tom’s told me they thought the legislation was good for America and the world, but that they weren’t willing to risk their political fortunes to vote for it. Some voted for it, and then tried to back away from their vote on the campaign trail.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">In contrast, Tom proudly voted for this legislation, and then went back to his district to explain why he took the vote he did, and how a shift to clean energy would dramatically bolster Virginia’s economy.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">When we turned to writing the health care bill that became the Affordable Care Act, we faced another tough fight that involved taking on Republicans who just weren’t willing to support anything Democrats proposed no matter the merits – and no matter that it made health care coverage significantly more affordable and provided coverage to tens of thousands of Virginians.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">Tom advocated for changes to the legislation to help his constituents, such as increasing compensation for rural hospitals, and making sure the legislation remained affordable. But the Republicans running ads and riling up Tea Party activists didn’t care about the content – they were still out to get anyone who voted for Obamacare. Tom proudly stood up and voted for expanded health care. Again, he stood up for his vote, and hit the trail to defend it.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">I have to say that Tom was also willing to stand up to Democrats when he believed the cause was right: even though the administration was pushing it, Tom opposed the second Wall Street bailout. It was a principled decision of the type that Tom always takes. Even when people disagree with Tom, they respect him because they know he’s operating on principle. I think that quality is ultimately what allowed him to outperform pundit predictions in his conservative Virginia district.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">During his campaign for governor, that kind of courageous conviction is still on display. Unlike his opponent, Tom has taken a clear stance against the construction of polluting new fossil fuel pipelines that risk fouling Virginia’s gorgeous forests and streams. And he’s just as willing to take on the big special interests as ever: he has pledged not to take a dime from Dominion Power, the Commonwealth’s worst polluter.  </div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">Of course, being Governor isn’t just about taking the right stands – it’s also about delivering for the citizens of Virginia. In my 40 years in Congress, I literally never met anyone who worked harder for his constituents than Tom Perriello. He expanded outreach to African-Americans who had previously been underserved, but also made sure that rural white voters had their voice heard in Washington, regardless of their political beliefs. </div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">People are looking for authenticity and integrity in politicians; the election in 2016 brought home this point.  They want someone who will stand up for and explain what they believe and will fight for it.  Tom is the kind of elected official who can bring back people who have been disillusioned in the past, and want to be energized and inspired about the future.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">I’m confident that when Tom is Governor, he will stand up for progressive, American values, and ensure that every Virginian gets a fair shake.  During the Trump era, Virginia can show the rest of the country how government should be run.</div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"citation"}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 715px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">I don’t usually get involved in state races, especially when there are two Democrats in the race. But I am confident that Tom Perriello represents the future of the Democratic Party in Virginia and beyond, and can’t wait to see him in office. </div>Noble tested $ laundering on Perriello va (also Boucher conserv dem but Saltvlle/olin in district 251; LuntZ did msg, Larry McC “serial offender” 253. mayer dk $http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tom-perriello-obama_us_5741df1de4b0613b512a8c44
Tom Perriello embraced Obama’s agenda, even in a conservative-leaning Virginia district. But while he did fairly well, he lost his seat in the 2010 tea party wave.Even with President Barack Obama’s triumph on election night in 2008, Tom Perriello needed a recount to squeak out a victory in his House race. He ended up winning by roughly 700 votes in a district the size of New Jersey — a margin that infuriated Republicans and shocked political observers.
A progressive wasn’t supposed to be elected in Virginia’s 5th. And Perriello’s victory was quickly celebrated as template for other Democrats residing in rural places stung by factory closings. Conviction politics had worked south of the Mason-Dixon line.
But just as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised to make Obama a one-term president, GOP activists applied a similar strategy to Perriello. Within two weeks of taking office, he faced his first attack ad.“I’m pretty sure it was about the stimulus and this idea that we were gonna steal your money and spend it all on lavish palaces for Nancy Pelosi,” Perriello recalled in this week’s episode of The Huffington Post’s Candidate Confessional podcast.More than any other member of Congress from that class, Perriello’s two years in office reflected the hopes, promises, stumbling blocks and casualties of bitter partisanship of the early Obama years. He came in eager to propel a transformative policy agenda that was less rigorously partisan in nature. He left a casualty of the GOP’s intransigence, martyred in the pages of the New Yorker.“I think [Republican leadership] made a correct Machiavellian decision that there was this extremely talented group of new people who had come in, many of them not from traditional political backgrounds,” Perriello said. “And if they had time to really get to know the voters as human beings, that that would really lock in the benefits of incumbency. They really went for the jugular early on that.”In looking back on those active two years in office, Perriello conceded that cynical obstructionism was a potent political weapon. But it was still horrifying to watch. He recalled how Obama encouraged lawmakers to get a stimulus bill to his desk by the time that he was sworn into office. But as Perriello went about getting his bearings, he soon realized that Congress was as dysfunctional as the economy it was supposed to rescue. Perriello tried forging partnerships with members of the freshman Republican class only to be rebuffed.“They were really reined in from even talking to us,” he said. “It was like the parents in the schoolyard saying, you’re not allowed to play with those kids or something.”It was like the parents in the schoolyard saying, you’re not allowed to play with those kids or something.Former Congressman Tom Perriello on trying to partner with Republicans in 2009.The schoolyard restrictions were startling enough. It became downright shocking for Perriello as Republicans steadfastly refused to support the stimulus even as the administration added conservative-friendly provisions including targeted tax cuts. He called it a “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington moment.” One day, he approached a GOP leader to see what could possibly be made different to earn their support.“The person said, ‘You’re asking the wrong question,’” Perriello recalled. “‘The question is if it works, Obama is gonna get all the credit for it. And if it doesn’t work we don’t want any part of it.’”In retrospect, the moment perfectly encapsulated the tremendous productivity and missed opportunities of those early Obama years.  The stimulus ended up passing with only a handful of Senate GOP votes and none from House Republicans. Perriello had his objections, too — he thought the construct and vision of the bill was far too underwhelming at a time when the country needed an economic transformation — but he cast a yea. He would do the same for other politically tough pieces of legislation, from cap-and-trade to health care, and in sticking to the theme of his ‘08 campaign, he would go back home and vigorously defend each votes.It wasn’t enough. Though he kept his re-election close — far closer, in fact, than many of his more centrist Democratic colleagues who’d bucked the White House — Perriello, who now serves Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, was swept out of office in the tea party wave. By then, however, he had soured on Congress. The shock felt from those first two weeks never fully receded.  “I know there’s partisanship,” said Perriello. “But you really believe underneath it that there’s some statesmanship… and to have that crass of a political analysis at that moment, that they literally could not — even with the possibility of a depression at stake — rise above that to do what was good for the country. It was spelled out to me really clearly early on.”
Perriello found forged ltr, then other bogus from Bonner, hawthornTom Perriello has been a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=United_States_Democratic_Party" title="United States Democratic Party">Democratic</a> member of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" class="mw-redirect">United States House of Representatives</a>, representing the 5th district of the State of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Members_of_the_U.S._Congress_from_Virginia" title="Category:Members of the U.S. Congress from Virginia">Virginia</a>, since 2009 (<a href="http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/va05_110.gif" class="external text" title="http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/va05_110.gif" rel="nofollow">map</a>).

lost on climate vote? la civita

won by 700 votes in distr that obama lost

helped disrupt town hall on rx?! no, joined with more conserv demos to hold off on vote till after town halls

WASHINGTON -- Former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) a beloved progressive whom activists and party officials had pushed to consider a gubernatorial run in Virginia, will instead head one of Washington D.C.'s premiere Democratic-leaning advocacy organizations.

The Center for American Progress Action Fund, the advocacy arm of the liberal think tank, announced on Thursday that Perriello would become its next President and CEO. Joining him in the group's top ranks will be Tara McGuinness, a well-travelled party operative who will take on the dual titles of Senior Vice President of the Action Fund and Senior Vice President of Communications at CAP.

The announcement caps off a major period of transition for the influential think-tank and advocacy organization. CAP's founder, John Podesta, recently stepped down from the post of president and was replaced by Neera Tanden, a former top adviser to Presidents Clinton and Obama. Jennifer Palmieri, who headed CAP's Action Fund, recently left to take on a communications position inside the Obama White House. Her former job, which included the title of Senior Vice President of Communications at CAP, will be split between Perriello and McGuinness.

"I am excited for this opportunity to join an institution that fosters the combination of big ideas and concrete action needed to face today’s economic, environmental, and security challenges," Perriello said in a statement. "This is a critical moment for our country to return to values of basic fairness and opportunity that are bigger than any election cycle."

A favorite of both progressives and President Barack Obama, Perriello won a tight race in a Republican-leaning congressional district during the 2008 elections. Once in Congress, he quite notably opted against tailoring his votes to his district's demographics, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/29/with-obama-coming-tom-per_n_775803.html" target="_hplink">arguing that a populist defense</a> of a progressive agenda would keep his supporters in the fold. When he lost his reelection bid by a relatively narrow margin in 2010, it was assumed that he would jump back into electoral politics either in 2012 or in 2013, when the Virginian governorship opens up. Instead, he's choosing to remain outside -- but still involved in -- that arena.===EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the coming month, ThinkProgress will be traveling to town hall events across the country to report on what we’re seeing on the ground. This is our second eyewitness report.Last night, ThinkProgress attended Rep. Tom Perriello’s (D-VA) town hall in Ruckersville, Virginia. Inside, many people were holding signs provided by Americans for Prosperity, a corporate front-group run by a Jack Abramoff associate who also ran “grassroots” lobbying campaigns <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/29/afp-timphillips-astroturf/">for Enron and other business interests</a>. There were loud disruptions as people interrupted with intermittent <a href="http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=10881246">yells and boos</a>, but dozens of others showed up in support of both Perriello and the House health care bill.“I’m angry that you ignore the law of the Constitution that requires Obama to prove that he is a natural born citizen,” said one town hall attendee. After being interviewed by ThinkProgress at the event, the man not only confirmed his “birther” views, but said he was contacted by Ben Marchi to distribute Americans for Prosperity talking points and signs at the event. Marchi is the Virginia state director of Americans for Prosperity and a <a href="http://americansforprosperity.org/041709-ben-marchi-afp-va-state-director">former staffer</a> for former Republican Majority Leader Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX). Watch it: <center>Americans for Prosperity, which is funded by <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/29/afp-timphillips-astroturf/">oil-interests</a> like Koch Industries, has relied upon extreme elements to build opposition to Obama and to progressive legislation. Events sponsored and organized by the group have featured Democratic members of Congress <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/28/dem-effigy-afp/">hung in effigy</a>, rhetoric comparing health reform to <a href="http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/08/americans-for-prosperity-compares-health-care-reform-to-holocaust.php">the Holocaust</a>, and signs accusing lawmakers of being <a href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/070709-daily-texan-activists-decry-federal-taxes">traitors</a>.Rather than foster a constructive dialogue, groups like Americans for Prosperity have been tapping into fear and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/07/31/53761/recess-harassment-memo/">encouraging disruptions</a> of town hall events. The strategy is not only undemocratic, but it lends legitimacy to far more dangerous activities.A local right-wing blogger called “Send A Rope” is following around Perriello, taping him and accusing him of being a “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq41nseMWzc">traitor</a>” for voting for clean energy reform. The blogger, who encourages readers to send pieces of rope to Congress and the <a href="http://sendarope.com/about/">White House</a>, declares on his website, “I don’t think that there are <a href="http://sendarope.com/">enough trees or rope in Washington DC to handle all the traitors</a> you would find there.” In a YouTube video, the blogger ominously warns, “I hope it doesn’t come to us having to do what we all think is coming with these guns, but <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbIlcZbi2Cw">you better be ready if it is</a>.”Though this blogger is not openly affiliated with Americans for Prosperity, this type of violent political rhetoric is being fueled by lobbyist-run groups and their allies in right-wing media (Send A Rope lists <a href="http://sendarope.com/">Fox News’ Glenn Beck</a> and Judge Napolitano as inspirations).</center>