I’m going to continue what (other) D.J. started earlier today on the heels of the news that Senator Jim Webb is (unsurprisingly) not running for reelection.
(other) D.J. wants Democrats to nominate Tim Kaine.
(this) D.J. wants Democrats to nominate Tom Perriello.
Either of them would make me giddy. A statewide race in this environment is toxic as it is for Democrats. To run Tim Kaine, a former governor who’s legacy is in tatters and popularity has been in freefall, Democrats would be putting the Senate race firmly back in the hands of Republicans.
Will they do the alternative, nominating progressive golden boy Tom Perriello?
God I hope so.
With a voting record lockstep with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and adored by the President, Tom Perriello’s nomination would be a godsend to Republicans across the state. Every election since 2008, when Virginia went blue for the first time since Johnson, Republicans have proven to be resurgent across the state. That tide will continue through 2012. Unless Republicans nominate another frustratingly weak candidate, Virginia has little chance of being blue in 2012.
Tom Perriello is adored by Democrats across the state, for good reason. His votes for health care, cap and trade and every other platform of the Democratic agenda pleases them. But more so, Perriello defended his record to the end, and stood by it, rather than running as far from it as possible, as Yellow Dog Glenn Nye did. Glenn Nye is a pariah in Democratic circles across the state, while Tom Perriello is a hero. There’s already a Draft Perriello petition going around.
Please do it!
To nominate a candidate drastically outside the thoughts of Republican and independent voters across the state, the Democrats would solidify the odds of Republicans taking back the seat. While Perriello set the gold standard for constituency services and grassroot politics from 2008 – 2010, something I laud, at the end of the day Perriello’s votes put his outside the mainstream. While Democrats may love him, he simply doesn’t appeal to independents or cross-voting Republicans.
I do think Perriello would do better statewide than Tim Kaine. Perriello has stayed true to the Democratic Party, while Tim Kaine left the Commonwealth gridlocked, with a gaping deficit and staggering tax hike that his own party rejected.
Tim Kaine/GOP nominee: 43/57
Tom Perriello:/GOP nomine: 45/55
