"If you want to go to Congress," Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello told state senator and Fifth District Republican challenger Robert Hurt in a campaign ad, "you can’t skip the job interview." The job interview in reference was actually an August debate with Perriello and independent candidate Jeffrey Clark, who Hurt has refused to debate on multiple occasions. (Hurt, recently joined by former governor George Allen at a campaign stop, opted for a Texas fundraiser instead of a Nelson County debate, and reportedly will not participate in a September 19 debate hosted by a district NAACP branch.)
If, as a recent poll suggests, the race in Virginia’s Fifth District is a close one, then perhaps the job interview will simply be televised. Yesterday, Hurt’s campaign released an ad that describes a Washington that is "spending money we don’t have, and borrowing money we can’t pay back." The ad also references "the National Energy Tax we can’t afford" and "the Pelosi-Perriello healthcare plan we didn’t want." Watch the spot in its entirety here:
Hurt’s recent "Fight to Fix Washington" ad
As another famous Allen once quipped, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." As Hurt, Perriello and Clark make choices about which appearances could bring about success in the November 2 election, local officials want to ensure that voters who can’t attend polling stations can still cast a vote. Charlottesville and Albemarle County officials recently announced the start of absentee voting on Friday, September 17. (Click links for more details.)
