Warner and Perriello Talk With Voters

When U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and 5th District U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello knocked on doors of local residents Saturday to drum up support for Perriello’s re-election bid, it probably was no surprise that they heard about the area’s need for jobs.   On Eastview Drive in Collinsville, Patsy and David Deisher told the lawmakers that jobs are an important issue here because local residents are struggling to find work as well as pay for food and gas.

Warner, D-Va., told the Deishers that it was important for the private sector to reinvest to create jobs.    He had a similar message for about 50 volunteers before they headed out to canvass neighborhoods along with the lawmakers.


“We’re still climbing out of a deep ditch. . . it’s good yes, that the stock market is back to 11,000, but the stock market at 11,000 doesn’t mean much if you don’t have a job,” Warner said.


He said big companies are doing better now because they cut costs and jobs during the recession while still finding ways to be productive and profitable.    Now, large companies have more than $2 trillion available for growth, while small businesses struggle to find loans and hire employees, Warner said.

Perriello, D-Albemarle County, added that if those companies choose to expand in India or China instead of in the United States, this nation’s economy will continue to suffer.

Warner pointed out that he has asked some company executives who outsource jobs to emerging markets if they would move their own family there, and the answer is always no.    He said that even though they enjoy the benefits of living in the United States, they choose to make a greater profit by helping economies overseas and not at home.


Before the local supporters canvassed local neighborhoods for Perriello, they gathered at Dr. Wally Betton’s Optometry office in Collinsville.    There, Warner praised Perriello’s service to the area.


“What Tom Perriello had done in these two years in probably the toughest time it’s been to be a new member of Congress in modern American history, is he has taken courage, he has taken energy, he has taken a relentless focus on the bottom line of serving the people” to Washington, Warner said.


Warner said a Supreme Court ruling earlier in the year “basically changed all the campaign finance rules in America.”    Now, it is not just business money financing campaigns, but it could be foreign money coming in to support opponents, he said.“   All the outside money in the world and all the kind of misrepresentations and all the half-truths and non-truths that are out there is what he’s fighting against,” Warner said of Perriello.

The Deishers also had told the lawmakers that they were confused by the negative information about Perriello contained in frequent television commercials.


“You don’t know who to believe with all the different ads,” Patsy Deisher told Perriello.


Perriello told her he did not have as many advertisements because his funding comes largely from small private donations, instead of large corporations or even countries.


“In Washington it is easy to spend time only with people who write big checks,” he said.


It is not likely that the Democrats can compete dollar for dollar on TV advertising, Warner said, so he urged volunteers to tell their neighbors, friends, co-workers and others about why they will vote for Perriello.


“Tell them this is a good man; his heart is in the right place,” Warner said.


Later, Warner said he is confident the Democratic Party can hold onto a majority in the House and the Senate in the Nov. 2 election. Perriello also said he thinks Democrats can hold onto the majority in both chambers, but he said he thinks voters will look at the candidates and decide “who’s fighting for the people and who’s protecting the powerful.”


Warner and the local supporters at Betton’s office also took time out to wish Perriello a happy birthday. The congressman turned 36 on Saturday.

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Thank You: ELIZA WINSTON - Bulletin Staff Writer