Meet Tom Perriello

Nothing at all is happening in the presidential race, so let's turn to Congress for a minute.

Recently, we've heard a lot, from a variety of independent sources, about a fellow named Tom Perriello who is running as a Democrat to unseat GOP incumbent Virgil Goode in Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. (Goode was elected to Congress in 1996 as a Democrat, but jumped to the Republican Party in 2002--had he stayed a Democrat, he'd probably chair a decent committee right now.)

You may recall Virgil as the jerk who objected to Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison, a Muslim, being sworn in on a Koran that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson. (Don't confuse Goode with his almost equally conservative counterpart from the neighboring Sixth District, Bob "Starbucks" Goodlatte.)

From all that we've learned so far, Perriello is a good guy who's generating some buzz and has demonstrated an ability to raise some decent money. It certainly won't be easy for him to unseat the Virgilmeister. Virginia's 5th District spans a swath of largely rural south-central Virgnia. The one bit of good news for Perriello is that this district includes rapidly growing Charlottesville, which is considerably more liberal-minded than most of the rest of the district, and also serves as a decent money base.

Perriello grew up in Albemarle County, near Charlottesville, then went off to Yale--both undergrad and law school--before embarking on a career of fighting atrocities in Africa and founding various organizations to help Africans and other dispossessed people of the world find justice.

For more information, go to Perriello's campaign website. The campaign is currently trying to raise enough money to convince the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that it's a race worth investing in, so feel free to kick in a few bucks!

We'll keep an eye on Mr. Perriello and try to let you know how he's doing. It's an uphill battle, no doubt, but then look at what Jim Webb accomplished!