Is Obama 2.0 bad news for Perriello and Nye?
By JR Hoeft | Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | PolicyEarlier this January, “The Hill” reported that Tom Perriello and Glenn Nye were numbers 3 and 4 on their list of vulnerable congressmen in 2010. They weren’t even done unpacking their offices!
Today, Republican Chuck Smith sent an email out to supporters declaring his intention to run for Nye’s seat, and, potentially, Virgil Goode is thinking about a comeback.
Then, we find out from the LA Times that the Obama administration is planning on using its vast collection of emails and social networking capacity made famous this past election to take the bully pulpit to a whole new level.
Apparently, in addition to putting pressure on Republicans, this network is going to be used to pressure Democrats to toe-the-line on Obama’s agenda.
People familiar with the plan say Obama’s team would use the network in part to pressure lawmakers — particularly wavering Democrats — to help him pass complex legislation on the economy, healthcare and energy.
The plan could prompt tensions with members of Congress, who are unlikely to welcome the idea of Obama’s political network targeting them from within their own districts.
As Perriello and Nye are Democrats in a conservative district – and potentially could waiver on supporting the president on some of these issues, they are certainly going to feel the pressure – as there are still plenty of Obama supporters in their districts who will receive these communiques from the administration.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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9 Responses to "Is Obama 2.0 bad news for Perriello and Nye?"
Tom Perriello never really talked about certain issues that Obama is likely to put on the front page. It will be interesting to see what he does. At the same time I believe that there will be a strong challenger facing him in 2010, whether it’s Virgil or someone else.
GO CHUCK SMITH!!!!! WIN BACK OUR SEAT!
In all due respect, Congresswoman Thelma Drake was a fantastic servant to the 2nd district and I would vote for her at almost any chance I could get, but I think if she runs again, that Nye would keep the seat. Chuck has the best chance.
Chuck Smith does NOT have the best chance. That is just rediculous. what in the world would make him qualified much less able to pull at least 51% of the vote? Thelma could win if she ran again. the worst is that she has not made a decision and one of her own (a republican) is out there already vying for her seat. If she doesn’t run, how about we talk about Ken Stolle or Frank Wagner. That would certainly make more sense.
The 5th district is not that conservative!!!! With Charlottesville, Martinsville, and Danville you have large population centers where there are lots of voters who ONLY vote Democrat. How do you think Perriello won? He got 80% of the vote in the largest population center (Charlottesville)!
Plus they are talking about redistricting the 5th and putting the conservative parts (franklin/bedford) in the 9th district with Rick Boucher.
I agree that the 5th district is probably going to be a battleground from now on. However C’ville has always voted Dem. The difference this time is that Tom Perriello made inroads into conservative areas that past challengers had not even bothered to fight for. Without Warner to make people comfortable voting Dem next time, I’m not sure that Tom Perriello can hold on next time around.
Chuck Smith sounds fantastic! Much better than Stolle thats for sure!
There seems to be a general misunderstanding on the 5th being promoted. The 5th is very conservative in nature; but that conservativism cannot be broken down in terms of Party allegiance. You have strong Christians that support lean Democrat as much as you have those that lean Republican. There was a tremendous get the vote out effort for Obama which translated into votes for Tom Periello that break from the traditional datapoints of turnout in those areas that broke heavy for Obama/Tom. In short; great turnout won the day for Tom, but not so much do to him per say as the fact he was down ballot from Obama. In 2010, Tom will not have that luxury and where will the turnout be. If it drops in % to 2006 levels, will Republicans take back the district? That is very possible. I say that because alot has come about since the election concerning Tom and his donor base outside Virginia, specifically NY and Soros organizations. These have not exactly been aligned with the rural aspects of the district at all on issues frankly IMHO and lets face facts most people in November were unfamiliar with Periello. He was the classic coattail story. If I had to bet, I would say Periello will be out in 2010, but Nye I think can win again in his district. Afterall, many of the Republican organizers with the help of folks from the 7th are linking the McDonnell campaign efforts with also taking back the 5th through leveraging the volunteer base. Something they learned from the Obama campaign no doubt. Remember the Governors race is this year and the Congressional campaigns will begin early 2010. It would be nice to have a candidate for 2010 for the 5th District by November though so after McDonnell’s victory he can be put center stage before the public.
I believe that, while Obama’s coattails surely contributed to Perriello’s win, we must remember that he won by less than 800 votes out of over 300K cast. The final straw, in my opinion, was the fact that he completely distorted the nature of the FairTax in the last 2-3 weeks of the campaign, turning it against Goode in the minds of those who are unfamiliar with the bill.
I am running for the Republican nomination in 2010, and making the FairTax a central plank on my platform. I’m a political outsider and can use all the help I can find. If you want a strong challenger for the 5th, visit http://SonsOfLiberty2k10.wordpress.com for my platform. If you like what you see, let me know how you’re willing to help.
Thanks,
Bradley S. Rees
Candidate for 2010
Born Stubborn
Fighting for “We, the people.”
[...] As we posted in January, it was to be expected that Obama would roll out his “2.0″ strategy for public policies [...]
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