Campaign Over, Attack Ads Continue

The campaign season is over, elections are done, but republicans in Virginia’s Fifth District aren’t letting go. They’re taking their message to the airwaves with attack ads against Congressman Tom Perriello.

According to experts at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, the political ads are still on the air for one reason: republicans don’t see this election as being over.

“Republicans think that they can get this seat back and they’re try to keep Perriello as soft as possible, his political situation as soft as possible,” said Cordel Faulk, UVA Center for Politics research director.

The National Republican Congressional Committee sponsored one ad negative ad. It came in response to a handful of positive Perriello ads that ask constituents to call the congressman and thank him for doing a great job.

“It’s unfortunate that during a national economic crisis when so many people are trying to unite to fix this economy, these groups are resorting to the same old partisan game-playing. The majority of calls we’ve received are from people who turned off by these ads,” said Jessica Barba, Perriello’s press secretary.

“If you’re pointing fingers at him and saying he’s doing this wrong, and this wrong, and this wrong and you keep repeating it for two years, you’re going to get a certain percentage of the population that’s going to think you know, he wasn’t that good of a politician and they’re going to want to come out and vote against him,” said Faulk.

If republicans are so eager to get Perriello out, who is going to step up to the plate to run against him?

“Former Congressman Goode is thinking about it and you hear some rumblings about it behind the scenes,” said Faulk…

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