Perriello calls out Hurt in new ad

Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5^th District, has launched his second TV ad of the summer, this time directly calling out his Republican opponent, state Sen. Robert Hurt, for not attending a recent debate.

In his latest spot, running in the Charlottesville and Roanoke markets, Perriello ends by telling Hurt, “If you want to go to Congress, you can’t skip the job interview.”

Perriello blasts Hurt for being “afraid to explain to voters” that he voted against extending unemployment benefits in the General Assembly in February and “why he supports the tax loophole that sends American jobs overseas.”

A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee attacked the ad in a news release, defending Hurt’s vote against extending benefits because he disagreed with accepting federal stimulus money for the bill.

The claim is based on Perriello’s recent vote in favor of a jobs bill that paid for itself by closing a tax loophole corporations use to send jobs overseas. Hurt has signed a pledge against raising any taxes.

The NRCC also noted that FactCheck.org found a similar tax loophole argument false in April, saying “the pledge only protects corporations from an increase in taxation overall.”

Hurt also opposed the $26 billion jobs bill because of deficit concerns — although closing the tax loophole and cuts to food stamp funding offset the spending in the bill. 

“How out of touch can Robert Hurt be?” Perriello’s campaign spokeswoman, Jessica Barba, said in a release. “… It’s no wonder why he’s hiding from voters.”

Hurt’s campaign shot back, touting Hurt’s participation in debates and accusing Perriello of going negative to distract from “sagging poll numbers.” A Survey USA poll in July showed Hurt 23 points ahead, but a GOP poll this week showed Hurt only 6 points ahead.

“Congressman Perriello is the favorite White House Democrat,” Hurt said in a statement, “because for the past two years he has done exactly what the White House and Nancy Pelosi have asked him to do instead of listening to the people of central and Southside Virginia and fighting for their best interest.”

Isaac Wood, a House race analyst at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said Perriello’s two ads were a “clear reflection” of his fundraising advantage — Hurt has yet to air an ad. Wood said voters “will always say they hate negative ads — but they do work.”

 “Tom Perriello kind of prides himself on dismissing politics as usual,” he said, “and I think this is an example of it. Campaign Management 101 says, ‘don’t put the candidate on TV saying bad things about the opponent.”

But Wood said the strategy in this ad was different — without grainy video and ominous music, the ad “doesn’t feel like an attack ad” and doesn’t elicit the same reaction.

“He is directly calling out his opponent,” Wood said, “but not in a way that’s shady.”