Freshman Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello will get a high-profile campaign boost on Friday when President Barack Obama travels to Charlottesville to rally support for the Virginia Congressman.
Perriello, who has unabashedly defended his votes for some of the Democrats’ big-ticket items, such as the economic stimulus package, health care, and cap-and-trade, is locked in a tough re-election bid against State Sen. Robert Hurt. The most recent poll shows Hurt leading by 6 percentage points.
The event will be at the Charlottesville Pavilion and is open to the public; gates open at 5 p.m., according to Perriello’s campaign.
“The President and I disagree on some issues, but we agree that America cannot return to the failed Bush-Hurt policies that brought our great nation to the brink of economic ruin,” Perriello said in a statement. “The President knows I’m an independent fighter, that I work tirelessly for this district and that I’m interested in what we can accomplish together, rather than what divides us.”
Obama has praised Perriello for winning over voters in a Republican-leaning district — Virginia’s 5th District stretches from north of Charlottesville to the North Carolina border — but for “doing what is right.” Perriello himself invoked Obama’s name at a Charlottesville voter registration drive earlier this month, saying that he and the president needed more time “to keep undoing all the mistakes that got us into this mess in the first place.”
Perriello’s opponent was just as pleased to welcome the unpopular Obama.
“We gladly welcome President Obama to the 5th District as he campaigns on behalf of his favorite Congressman, Tom Perriello,” said Hurt campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg. “His visit will further solidify the idea in the minds of voters that Congressman Perriello has been nothing more than a lap dog for the job killing Obama-Pelosi agenda, representing their interests, not the interests of central and southside Virginians.”
