My Congressman (Fifth District of Virginia), Tom Perriello, a first-termer who won by 700 votes holding on to a thread of Obama’s coattails and who is known not so affectionately by those who hope his first will also be his last term as Tom Pelosiello, was hammered during the tumultuous town hall meetings of last August.
On August 10 I discussed a misleading article about his campaign for re-election here. The next day the Charlotte Daily Progress reported that the embattled incumbent had banned political signs from his meetings.
Prior to the [Scottsville] town hall meeting, Steve Peters, a member of the Jefferson Area Tea Party, complained that Perriello’s office decided to prohibit political signs inside this year’s town halls.
“Last year we were allowed to have our signs,” said Peters, standing outside and holding an anti-Perriello sign. “We didn’t have to sit like little kids in a classroom where you have to raise your hand to ask a question.”
….
Perriello’s district director, Ridge Schuyler, said he chose to ban signs to ensure that the town halls are an opportunity for constituents to interact with their congressman without partisan politics getting in the way.
Today, Aug. 19, the Daily Progress printed the following letter from a local citizen whom the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty, author of the article criticized in the discussion linked above, would no doubt describe as “angry,” still expressing “gale-force outrage.”
By John S. Rosenberg | Albemarle County
Published: August 19, 2010
The Daily Progress reports (“Praise, complaints and hard questions for Perriello in Scottsville,” Aug. 11) that Tom Perriello has prohibited political signs at his meetings with voters.
His district director explains that “he chose to ban signs to ensure that the town halls are an opportunity for constituents to interact with their congressman without partisan politics getting in the way.”
“Partisan politics” at campaign events? Who’d a thought?
Perriello has almost always voted down the line with Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership in his first term, a record that no doubt explains why, according to the campaign finance monitors at opensecrets.org, he has received well over twice as much money from Democratic campaign committees as the average House member. (See http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cidN00029339).
Heaven forbid that the congressman should have to deal with “partisan politics” when he attempts to explain and justify these votes to his constituents.
Maybe someone at the Daily Progress leaked new of this letter before its appearance, since yesterday (Aug. 18) the paper published an article on the controversy, After criticism, Perriello withdraws sign ban.
After facing criticism that he was stifling free speech, U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello will now allow political signs at his 10 remaining town hall meetings across the district.
Perriello’s office had banned signs at his 20 scheduled town hall forums during Congress’ recess after a number of constituents told them that the abundance of signs at last year’s town hall forums contributed to an overly charged and politicized atmosphere.
Well, maybe the DP didn’t leak an advance copy of that letter, since that same article reported:
The Rutherford Institute, an Albemarle County-based civil liberties organization, chastised the freshman Democrat over the sign ban policy Wednesday.
“Your sign ban amounts to an act of outright censorship that raises grave Constitutional concerns,” wrote Rutherford Institute founder and President John W. Whitehead in a letter to Perriello.
I prefer to think, however, that it was rumor of that impending letter that caused Rep. Pelosiello Perriello to gag on his own gag order.
