Tom Perriello fights back

A political note. Remember Tom Perriello, the Virginia House Dem from a conservative district who went from even to down 23% in his current race?

I called that race a potential harbinger of what mixed-district Dems in 2010 are up against -- the Dems who took Rahm's deal to (1) vote Yes on a health care bill that was deeply unpopular in their districts, then (2) offset it with a Yes on Stupak.

How unpopular was health care in Perriello's district? He's the guy whose brother's propane gas line was cut by tea baggers back in March, according to MSNBC. They thought they were cutting the congressman's gas.

Well, all of a sudden it's Tom Perriello week; it seems he's everywhere. Here he is on Rachel Maddow sounding very progressive:



Looks like he's doubling down in his fight against Robert Hurt — by veering to the left. Most refreshing.

For example, according to this report of Day 3 at Netroots Nation, he's talking the talk. (I especially like that he's in favor of those killer VoteVets ads — more on that later.)

He's raising money like a madman, running left as hard as he can, and cannon-balling the media. Act Blue has a page for him. If you think he's the real deal, go for it.

(For me, I've done my best to figure him out at the core, and I just can't get data that makes me sure. In my nightmares, I see Heath Schuler's face — and Jon Tester just voted to keep the filibuster. But still, we have to start somewhere, and Perriello is showing fight and then some. If you have more on his positions, feel free to add them to the comments.)

GP