There are plenty times we've all hoped a politician would just step in it. Congressman Tom Perriello did- his new ad captures him stepping in cow manure.

By Janelle Rucker

From The Roanoke Times

 

Setting a tone in his first television ad of the campaign season, U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello is touting his efforts to bring jobs to the state -- and how dirty he's gotten while doing it.

 From:  The Lynchburg News & Advance

 

Editorial:  Candidates should all participate in debates

In the Fifth District, the debate over the debate has already begun and it is just barely summer. Depending on how this turns out, the voters could end up being the losers.

 

State Sen. Robert Hurt of Chatham won the Republican primary earlier this month against an array of Tea Party candidates. He will face off against incumbent Rep. Tom Perriello, a Democrat from Albemarle County. Hurt said initially he would be willing to debate Perriello and independent Jeffrey Clark, a Tea Party member from Danville. Clark says he is running because Hurt isn’t conservative enough.

 

Unfortunately for the district’s voters, Hurt has changed his mind about including Clark in the debate or debates. In a statement released last weekend, the GOP candidate said, “We cannot allow the important debate in this election to be sidetracked by a candidate who is not serious about his campaign or his ability to win.”

 

A week earlier, Hurt told The Daily Progress in Charlottesville that he was “absolutely” willing to appear at debates with Clark and Perriello during the campaign.

 

From: The Daily Progress 

 

Editorial:  3 candidates, 3 debaters 

Is a political debate supposed to be for the benefit of the voters — or the politicians?

 

Both, or else the politicians wouldn’t submit themselves to the process; after all, they want to win votes, not risk losing them.

 

But for the benefit of democracy, voters should come first. And for that reason, they should get the chance to hear all the candidates on the ballot, so they are better prepared to cast an intelligent vote.

 

State Sen. Robert Hurt, Republican, is currently locked in a debate about a debate: whether he is willing to allow third-party candidate Jeffrey C. Clark to join a session with himself and Democrat Rep. Tom Perriello, the incumbent.

 

Mr. Perriello has agreed to Mr. Clark’s participation. Late last week, Mr. Hurt said that, no, he does not want a three-way debate.

 

“We cannot allow the important debate in this election to be sidetracked by a candidate who is not serious about his campaign or his ability to win,” he said in a written statement.

 

Mr. Clark was serious enough to get the requisite number of signatures on a petition to place his name on the ballot. He is a legitimate candidate.

 

From: The Roanoke Times

 

Editorial: Open debate to all candidates

The Tea Party candidate made the ballot in the 5th District. Let him into the debate.

 

There's something oddly comforting in the banal predictability of the campaign season. Case in point: the debate over debates in the 5th Congressional District.

 

Democratic incumbent Rep. Tom Perriello wants inclusive debates with both of his opponents. Republican challenger Robert Hurt wants to face Perriello alone. Tea partier Jeffrey Clark just wants someone to listen to him.

 

Maybe Perriello's motives are pure. Maybe he genuinely does want to give Clark a fair shot at wooing voters. Perriello often meets with people who challenge his views.

 

Yet cold political calculus shapes analysis, too. Whenever a third-party or independent candidate enters a race, the script is the same. It only varies by who plays what role.

 

If the insurgent comes from the right, for example, then the Democrat wants him included because he might draw crucial votes from his opponent. Meanwhile, the Republican argues the insurgent is not a credible candidate. Allowing him to participate would waste everyone's time.

 

If the insurgent comes from the left, just swap the roles for the major-party candidates.