Earlier this week with the Appalachian Mountains as a backdrop, Virginia’s Fifth District Congressional candidate Robert Hurt addressed a gathering of supporters in the Sixth District’s central Shenandoah Valley. He was there at the invitation of the Sixth District’s own Congressman Bob Goodlatte who, facing two independent opponents but no Democrat, is expected to be a sure win in November.
Hurt, a Virginia State Senator, is facing one-term Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello who has stayed true to the Democrat playbook during his 18 months in office. Voting for ObamaCare, the stimulus bill, and cap-and-trade, those issues have lined Perriello up with Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and have not set well with voters in his mostly rural District. Stretching from Charlottesville, home of many affluent citizens and the University of Virginia, south to Martinsville where unemployment is running at 20%, the District is ripe for change.
Hurt, a tall, handsome, personable man, greeted supporters and chatted with other elected officials as he worked the crowd, leaving no guest standing alone. He readily answered questions about policy and his campaign, introduced his wife Kathy, and talked about his home town of Chatham deep in the Fifth District’s textile region. His fellow State Senator Emmett Hanger from Augusta County was there to support him as well as Virginia Delegates Steve Landes, Dickie Bell, and Todd Gilbert.
Robert Hurt is enjoying a lead with a recent poll showing him ahead of Perriello 61% to 35% with independent candidate Clark receiving 2% of the vote. While that may be overly optimistic and other polls have shown a closer race, it is worth noting as an indicator of the discontent of voters across the Fifth District as well as the nation leading up to November.
Sen. Hurt was enthusiastically introduced at Monday’s event by Rep. Goodlatte, a sign of the Virginia Congressional delegation’s desire to return the Commonwealth’s majority to the Republican column. Goodlatte noted the frustration of voting for an issue only to have his vote canceled by Tom Perriello on the other side of the mountain, something he and the other Congressmen would like to change.
Addressing the crowd, Hurt talked of a business-friendly government, reduced taxes, unnecessary regulations, out-of-control government spending, back-breaking federal debt, the need to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, and the need to repeal the government-mandated health care bill. His remarks on these issues and more were met with applause and nodding heads as he emphasized what he would do in Washington.
Perriello, meanwhile, is trying to distance himself from Obama and Pelosi, recently running a campaign ad touting his break from the Democrats on some issues. But the Big Three — health care, stimulus, and cap-and-trade — hang around his neck like an albatross.
Robert Hurt intends to remind voters of Perriello’s albatross as much as possible while pushing his issues and riding the anti-incumbent wave to what he hopes will be a win on Election Day. His stop in Augusta County put him one step closer to that goal.
