VA-GOV 2017: Utter Panic and Doom (General election: Nov 7th)

[LabourJersey]

It may be another proxy battle between Sanders and Clinton. Reliving the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.

Tom Perriello has some good ideas, but he may be too anti-gun and anti-military to win in Virginia. The Democratic primary is Lean Northam at this point.

We'll see. I think Northam can do well in the rural areas of Virginia, but Perriello could do well with the anti-gun NOVA suburbanites that have flooded Virginia over the past couple of years.

However, Ed Gillespie probably wants Perriello as the Democratic opponent in this open seat. RGA would pour money into this race, and yes, Republicans can still win Virginia despite it being an off-year in Trump/Pence-era politics.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/bernie-sanders-endorses-tom-perriello-236858

Perriello was endorsed by the NRA at one point--in what fantasy world does he count as "too anti-gun"? Also I don't think there is anyone in elected American politics who can accurately be described as "anti-military."

[Shadows]

It may be another proxy battle between Sanders and Clinton. Reliving the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.

Tom Perriello has some good ideas, but he may be too anti-gun and anti-military to win in Virginia. The Democratic primary is Lean Northam at this point.

We'll see. I think Northam can do well in the rural areas of Virginia, but Perriello could do well with the anti-gun NOVA suburbanites that have flooded Virginia over the past couple of years.

However, Ed Gillespie probably wants Perriello as the Democratic opponent in this open seat. RGA would pour money into this race, and yes, Republicans can still win Virginia despite it being an off-year in Trump/Pence-era politics.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/bernie-sanders-endorses-tom-perriello-236858

Tom has to be the most gun friendly Dem, He has an A rating or something from the NRA & no1 is anti-military, some people just don't want to see money abused in stupid wars & soldiers killed for no good reason.

VA is a Likely D at this point & it will be very hard for the GOP to win in 2017 & Tom has been doing better than Ralph in the polls. And he has support from Podesta, Obama staffers & Sanders & his supporters - Essentially both wings - Let's see if he win now, because if he still can't, then it's difficult to see him having a good future in politics !

[Babeuf]

Have to think an Obama endorsement, while unlikely, isn't out of the question. Perriello was one of his favorite congressman.

[Deblano]

Bernie Sanders endorses Perriello

And the Northam vs. Perriello race gets even more tense....

[RogueBeaver]

Sanders is campaigning with Perriello.

[Holmes]

Fairfax is an interesting choice. Sanders is probably more useful in the western, more rural areas of the state but NoVA will be the most important region in the primary and has the most votes.

[Heisenberg]

It may be another proxy battle between Sanders and Clinton. Reliving the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.

Tom Perriello has some good ideas, but he may be too anti-gun and anti-military to win in Virginia. The Democratic primary is Lean Northam at this point.

We'll see. I think Northam can do well in the rural areas of Virginia, but Perriello could do well with the anti-gun NOVA suburbanites that have flooded Virginia over the past couple of years.

However, Ed Gillespie probably wants Perriello as the Democratic opponent in this open seat. RGA would pour money into this race, and yes, Republicans can still win Virginia despite it being an off-year in Trump/Pence-era politics.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/bernie-sanders-endorses-tom-perriello-236858

Tom has to be the most gun friendly Dem, He has an A rating or something from the NRA & no1 is anti-military, some people just don't want to see money abused in stupid wars & soldiers killed for no good reason.

VA is a Likely D at this point & it will be very hard for the GOP to win in 2017 & Tom has been doing better than Ralph in the polls. And he has support from Podesta, Obama staffers & Sanders & his supporters - Essentially both wings - Let's see if he win now, because if he still can't, then it's difficult to see him having a good future in politics !

Perriello seems to have renounced his pro-gun past a few years ago. Still, I can see him being attacked as flip flopping on that issue.

[Deblano]

It may be another proxy battle between Sanders and Clinton. Reliving the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.

Tom Perriello has some good ideas, but he may be too anti-gun and anti-military to win in Virginia. The Democratic primary is Lean Northam at this point.

We'll see. I think Northam can do well in the rural areas of Virginia, but Perriello could do well with the anti-gun NOVA suburbanites that have flooded Virginia over the past couple of years.

However, Ed Gillespie probably wants Perriello as the Democratic opponent in this open seat. RGA would pour money into this race, and yes, Republicans can still win Virginia despite it being an off-year in Trump/Pence-era politics.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/bernie-sanders-endorses-tom-perriello-236858

Tom has to be the most gun friendly Dem, He has an A rating or something from the NRA & no1 is anti-military, some people just don't want to see money abused in stupid wars & soldiers killed for no good reason.

VA is a Likely D at this point & it will be very hard for the GOP to win in 2017 & Tom has been doing better than Ralph in the polls. And he has support from Podesta, Obama staffers & Sanders & his supporters - Essentially both wings - Let's see if he win now, because if he still can't, then it's difficult to see him having a good future in politics !

Perriello seems to have renounced his pro-gun past a few years ago. Still, I can see him being attacked as flip flopping on that issue.

Both candidates are being attacked for being "flip floppers" and not being "true progressives".

[Kamala]

I'm torn on whom to support in this primary, I like both candidates a lot. Northam has that air of pragmatism, but Perriello is just so incredibly energetic. Somehow I like both how Perriello is clearly ambitious and driven and how it doesn't seem like Northam has any future ambitions beyond Governor.
Perriello's Obama connections might push him forward, just a tad.

I'm glad this is one of those rare (primary) election where I'll be happy regardless of who wins... The only other one off the top of my head is the German federal election, Merkel and Schultz are both great candidates and make great Chancellors.

[MAINEiac4434]

I'm torn on whom to support in this primary, I like both candidates a lot. Northam has that air of pragmatism, but Perriello is just so incredibly energetic. Somehow I like both how Perriello is clearly ambitious and driven and how it doesn't seem like Northam has any future ambitions beyond Governor.
Perriello's Obama connections might push him forward, just a tad.

I'm glad this is one of those rare (primary) election where I'll be happy regardless of who wins... The only other one off the top of my head is the German federal election, Merkel and Schultz are both great candidates and make great Chancellors.

Yeah, I think if Perriello wins, he's going to run for President in 2020.

[Shadows]

It may be another proxy battle between Sanders and Clinton. Reliving the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.

Tom Perriello has some good ideas, but he may be too anti-gun and anti-military to win in Virginia. The Democratic primary is Lean Northam at this point.

We'll see. I think Northam can do well in the rural areas of Virginia, but Perriello could do well with the anti-gun NOVA suburbanites that have flooded Virginia over the past couple of years.

However, Ed Gillespie probably wants Perriello as the Democratic opponent in this open seat. RGA would pour money into this race, and yes, Republicans can still win Virginia despite it being an off-year in Trump/Pence-era politics.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/bernie-sanders-endorses-tom-perriello-236858

Tom has to be the most gun friendly Dem, He has an A rating or something from the NRA & no1 is anti-military, some people just don't want to see money abused in stupid wars & soldiers killed for no good reason.

VA is a Likely D at this point & it will be very hard for the GOP to win in 2017 & Tom has been doing better than Ralph in the polls. And he has support from Podesta, Obama staffers & Sanders & his supporters - Essentially both wings - Let's see if he win now, because if he still can't, then it's difficult to see him having a good future in politics !

Perriello seems to have renounced his pro-gun past a few years ago. Still, I can see him being attacked as flip flopping on that issue.

Fully agreed with you. I think he will be moderately left on guns, not Hillary level though. But to say he is anti-guns given the current stance of Democrats like Murphy, Hillary, etc on guns is not correct.

[Shadows]

Henry Waxman , Former Representative has an article on Tom

He squeaked into office from Virginia’s conservative Fifth Congressional District by a smaller margin – 727 votes – than any other Member of Congress elected that year.

Perriello faced massive pressure from Tea Party Republicans and polluters to oppose the Waxman-Markey climate bill I authored as Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.It faced hundreds of millions of dollars in attacks by oil and coal companies who wanted to protect the status quo. Too many Democrats from less conservative districts than Tom’s told me they thought the legislation was good for America and the world, but that they weren’t willing to risk their political fortunes to vote for it.

In contrast, Tom proudly voted for this legislation, and then went back to his district to explain why he took the vote he did, and how a shift to clean energy would dramatically bolster Virginia’s economy. Tom proudly stood up and voted for expanded health care. Again, he stood up for his vote, and hit the trail to defend it. Even though the administration was pushing it, Tom opposed the second Wall Street bailout.

Unlike his opponent, Tom has taken a clear stance against the construction of polluting new fossil fuel pipelines that risk fouling Virginia’s gorgeous forests and streams

Full Article - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tom-perriello-would-be-a-governor-with-a-backbone_us_58e3ba81e4b0f4a923b241ba?utm_hp_ref=politics

[Maxwell]

A reminder that Ed Gillespie, the "moderate Nice Guy FF" candidate who has spent his entire career as a GOP hatchetman, is still a huge turd sandwich

[heatcharger]

A couple of my friends dragged into going to the Tom Perriello / Bernie Sanders rally at GMU tonight. The crowd was made up of the exact white latte liberals you'd expect to show up to this kind of rally.

I gotta say, it reaffirmed my position that I'd be happy voting for Perriello in a GE, and he is a good guy. However, his platform is pretty shallow in my opinion, and he really does play up a lot of cliches about 'resisting' and being 'progressive', and that still seems quite disingenuine to me. I do think he's doing himself and the party a favor by not poisoning the well with Northam, and that kind of strategy won't turn Clinton voters off from him. I would not at all be shocked if he holds Northam's margins in Fairfax and Loudoun to single-digits, which could give him a path to victory.

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, said nothing new and regurgitated his stump speech from the presidential campaign, and he even falsely stated that Perriello supports his free tuition college plan, when in fact, Perriello is only in favor of making trade school and community college debt-free. And my god, some his supporters really do act like members of a cult.

[Maxwell]

A couple of my friends dragged into going to the Tom Perriello / Bernie Sanders rally at GMU tonight. The crowd was made up of the exact white latte liberals you'd expect to show up to this kind of rally.

I gotta say, it reaffirmed my position that I'd be happy voting for Perriello in a GE, and he is a good guy. However, his platform is pretty shallow in my opinion, and he really does play up a lot of cliches about 'resisting' and being 'progressive', and that still seems quite disingenuine to me. I do think he's doing himself and the party a favor by not poisoning the well with Northam, and that kind of strategy won't turn Clinton voters off from him. I would not at all be shocked if he holds Northam's margins in Fairfax and Loudoun to single-digits, which could give him a path to victory.

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, said nothing new and regurgitated his stump speech from the presidential campaign, and he even falsely stated that Perriello supports his free tuition college plan, when in fact, Perriello is only in favor of making trade school and community college debt-free. And my god, some his supporters really do act like members of a cult.

Interesting to hear you say that. Here's a video he did for the campaign where he stands against pipelines, another video with him in Southwestern Virginia where he discusses a variety of issues. Look, I think it's fair to say he's not discussing these issues in much depth, I understand. But for a political campaign, from what I've seen, I think Tom is trying to be substantive and talk about a platform that is unique and aims at people that aren't just the usual Democrats.

[heatcharger]

Oh I'm not denying that Perriello has nuanced policies up his sleeve, and he actually does have some noteworthy positions on automation and the decentralization of food production that I really want to hear more about, but he just doesn't give it the time of day. The main reason I'm really skeptical of him is because I think he belongs in the federal government and not in Richmond, but he knows that this is a better springboard into something higher up. I just want someone to be the Governor of Virginia first and foremost.

[MAINEiac4434]

Oh I'm not denying that Perriello has nuanced policies up his sleeve, and he actually does have some noteworthy positions on automation and the decentralization of food production that I really want to hear more about, but he just doesn't give it the time of day. The main reason I'm really skeptical of him is because I think he belongs in the federal government and not in Richmond, but he knows that this is a better springboard into something higher up. I just want someone to be the Governor of Virginia first and foremost.

Honestly if he wins the primary and election, he shoots up the list for potential 2020 candidates. I feel like that may be his motive here.

[Frodo]

My issue with Tom Perriello (besides his insincere vibe) is his opportunism -it's just too obvious.  I don't want to vote for someone so as to enable them to get a springboard for higher office.  Focus on being my governor, first and foremost.   

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

My issue with Tom Perriello (besides his insincere vibe) is his opportunism -it's just too obvious.  I don't want to vote for someone so as to enable them to get a springboard for higher office.  Focus on being my governor, first and foremost.  

As opposed to the 99.99% of other people who run for elected office  This idea that Perriello is somehow more ambitious than most politicians and that if this is true it means he'll be a bad Governor is pretty silly, tbh.  I mean, does anyone here really think Northam didn't run for Lieutenant Governor simply to use the office as a springboard or that he wouldn't use being Governor of Virginia as a springboard to run for higher office if he really thought it'd make him a viable candidate for said office?  

For that matter, I find the claims that Perriello is a shrewd, careerist, insincere phony while Northam is some sort of ambition-free Virginia first hero to be silly too.  Perriello consistently made tough, high-profile, progressive votes in the house and he didn't run away from them when he ran for re-election.  If he were an insincere careerist hack, he wouldn't have done that given the district he represented.  That was a rare example of someone knowingly sacrificing (b/c let's be honest, no one expected to hear from him again after that) their political career to do what they thought was right time after time.  I'm not saying Northam's a DINO or even any worse than the average politician, but he doesn't have anywhere near as impressive a record in this regard and was even considered a potential party-switcher by the Republicans.

[Frodo]

My issue with Tom Perriello (besides his insincere vibe) is his opportunism -it's just too obvious.  I don't want to vote for someone so as to enable them to get a springboard for higher office.  Focus on being my governor, first and foremost.  

As opposed to the 99.99% of other people who run for elected office  This idea that Perriello is somehow more ambitious than most politicians and that if this is true it means he'll be a bad Governor is pretty silly, tbh.  I mean, does anyone here really think Northam didn't run for Lieutenant Governor simply to use the office as a springboard or that he wouldn't use being Governor of Virginia as a springboard to run for higher office if he really thought it'd make him a viable candidate for said office?

Most politicians at least pretend to act as if the elected position they're running for is their heart's desire.  It's less insulting to their voters that way.  We don't appreciate being used, much less reminded of it.  Tom Perriello, however, reminds me of Marco Rubio.  I wonder if he's going to spend more of his time on the job, or running around the country seeking endorsements, raising money, and going to Iowa and New Hampshire.  

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Perriello made those 'tough, high-profile, progressive' votes that only seem impressive because his eye was always on a higher, national office.  Let's not forget how quickly he disavowed his earlier conservative record on gun control and abortion as opposed to standing by them.  I certainly won't.  

[Skill and Chance]

My issue with Tom Perriello (besides his insincere vibe) is his opportunism -it's just too obvious.  I don't want to vote for someone so as to enable them to get a springboard for higher office.  Focus on being my governor, first and foremost.  

As opposed to the 99.99% of other people who run for elected office  This idea that Perriello is somehow more ambitious than most politicians and that if this is true it means he'll be a bad Governor is pretty silly, tbh.  I mean, does anyone here really think Northam didn't run for Lieutenant Governor simply to use the office as a springboard or that he wouldn't use being Governor of Virginia as a springboard to run for higher office if he really thought it'd make him a viable candidate for said office?

Most politicians at least pretend to act as if the elected position they're running for is their heart's desire.  It's less insulting to their voters that way.  We don't appreciate being used, much less reminded of it.  Tom Perriello, however, reminds me of Marco Rubio.  I wonder if he's going to spend more of his time on the job, or running around the country seeking endorsements, raising money, and going to Iowa and New Hampshire. 

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Perriello made those 'tough, high-profile, progressive' votes that only seem impressive because his eye was always on a higher, national office.  Let's not forget how quickly he disavowed his earlier conservative record on gun control and abortion.  I certainly won't.   

The fact that VA has a single term limit for governor's mitigates this concern IMO.  Because of this, literally everyone who runs for VA-GOV does so thinking about what they will do next.

At this point, I would be quite surprised if Northam wins the primary over Perriello.

[RogueBeaver]

Dem debate schedule released.

[Maxwell]

Northam is a fine guy but the idea he's some unambitious, completely sincere person is just ridiculous. The guy thought about switching parties for crying out loud!

[Shadows]

My issue with Tom Perriello (besides his insincere vibe) is his opportunism -it's just too obvious.  I don't want to vote for someone so as to enable them to get a springboard for higher office.  Focus on being my governor, first and foremost.  

As opposed to the 99.99% of other people who run for elected office  This idea that Perriello is somehow more ambitious than most politicians and that if this is true it means he'll be a bad Governor is pretty silly, tbh.  I mean, does anyone here really think Northam didn't run for Lieutenant Governor simply to use the office as a springboard or that he wouldn't use being Governor of Virginia as a springboard to run for higher office if he really thought it'd make him a viable candidate for said office?

Most politicians at least pretend to act as if the elected position they're running for is their heart's desire.  It's less insulting to their voters that way.  We don't appreciate being used, much less reminded of it.  Tom Perriello, however, reminds me of Marco Rubio.  I wonder if he's going to spend more of his time on the job, or running around the country seeking endorsements, raising money, and going to Iowa and New Hampshire.  

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Perriello made those 'tough, high-profile, progressive' votes that only seem impressive because his eye was always on a higher, national office.  Let's not forget how quickly he disavowed his earlier conservative record on gun control and abortion as opposed to standing by them.  I certainly won't.  

To say that someone who is barely in Congress for a couple of years made very hard votes & tried to explain that to his constituents in meeting repeatedly was due to some long term plan is flat out ridiculous. If anything you are likely out of office, possibly never to be back again & staying in Congress for 7-8 years & then trying for a Senate/Gov seat is much more apt than losing this early for some supposed state-wide goodwill on issues which May or MAY not even matter to people!

[Zioneer]

Am I the only one who wouldn't mind either Perriello or Northam being governor?