Hurt And Perriello Making Their Case In VA-5
This central Virginia contest is a microcosm of competitive races nationwide that will determine whether Republicans pick up the 40 House seats they need to regain a majority in the 435-seat House after four years out of power.
Perriello like scores of fellow Democrats is pressed to defend his votes for health care and carbon limits — commonly known as cap and trade — to many of his constituents who see them as too costly and intrusive. Like many GOP challengers, Hurt is criticizing those votes and hoping a rising tide of public alarm about federal debt and spending will overcome unfavorable memories of George W. Bush’s presidency. But polls show that the Republican Party remains relatively unpopular. Hurt and other GOP candidates must convince voters that Republicans have rejected their own deficit-spending habits and can manage the economy better than Democrats.
Hurt faces another roadblock, he must unite the fractious conservative base in VA-5. Some tea party activists still say the GOP nominee is too mainstream and orthodox. One of them, Jeff Clark, is on the November ballot as an independent, and he threatens to siphon conservative votes from Hurt.
Read more from Charles Babington at the Martinsville Bulletin