GOP sets sights on Perriello with Pelosi ad

The National Republican Congressional Committee is airing a radio ad targeting U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, for his vote against investigating claims by Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the CIA misled her over its harsh interrogation techniques.

The House voted 252 to 172 last week to reject a GOP bill that would have launched a formal probe into Pelosi’s charges that the CIA lied to her about its practice of waterboarding terrorism suspects.

The radio ad, which is running in the Roanoke and Danville markets, features “Mission Impossible”-style music and a voiceover purporting to be a secret agent.

“Lying to Congress would be a crime. Shouldn’t we investigate a crime?” the ad says. “But on 21 May, Pelosi’s crowd blocked the investigation. Congressman Tom Perriello voted that way too. Perriello voted to protect Pelosi. Why? My sources tell me that Perriello votes with Pelosi 91 percent of the time.”

Perriello’s press secretary, Jessica Barba, called the ad a distraction from the important issues facing the country.

“This is just another example of partisan hackery that does nothing to fix the economy or create jobs,” she said.

The ad, titled “Investiga-tion,” urges listeners to call Perriello’s office and tell him to “stop siding with Nancy Pelosi.”

Barba questioned the veracity of the NRCC’s claim that Perriello votes in lockstep with the House’s Democratic leadership.

“Most votes taken in Congress are procedural and these percentages don’t reflect the congressman’s true record of independence,” she said. “I think people are more interested in what Congressman Perriello is doing for the economy and job creation in Virginia than this inside-the-Beltway partisan nonsense.”

The NRCC is running similar ads against five other Democrats, including Glenn Nye, a freshman who represents the Hampton Roads and Eastern Shore areas of Virginia.

“Given his unwavering support for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda and her most outrageous claims, Tom Perriello should not be surprised that the speaker has become a political liability for him in Virginia,” NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsay said in a statement. “When Perriello’s constituents voted for change in 2008, they weren’t expecting him to willingly side with his party leader after she brazenly accuses the CIA of criminal conduct.”

Perriello unseated Republican Virgil H. Goode Jr. in last fall’s election by only 727 votes, a margin of less than half a percent. Analysts expect that Perriello will almost certainly be a GOP target as he heads toward re-election in 2010.