Reading the tea leaves: Who will come out on top in the 5th District?
On the websites of the Republican candidates itching to take on 5th District freshman Congressman Tom Perriello, it's pretty likely there will be a photo of the candidate with his lovely family. Throw in a picture of the wannabe U.S. representative talking to a farmer with green, John Deere-like equipment, and you've got two images that capture the conservative values of this largely rural district that stretches from Albemarle to the North Carolina border.
Once dotted with tobacco fields and thriving textile mills, today the 5th District, particularly Southside, is the scene of painful unemployment that, at 14 percent in March, was nearly double the state average of 7.6 percent.
Ivy-raised Perriello slid into office on Barack Obama's coattails, narrowly defeating once-untouchable Republican incumbent Virgil Goode by a mere 727 votes.
Flash forward two years. A near-economic collapse and bailout and record government spending have given birth to the Tea Party movement and a white-hot rage throughout the country against government.
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