Obama rallies for Perriello at the Pavilion

President Barack Obama urged an estimated crowd of 12,000 to head to the polls on Tuesday and vote for U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, a freshman Democrat fighting to hold onto his seat against a tough challenge from Republican Robert Hurt.

Speaking at the Charlottesville Pavilion, Obama told the crowd that Tuesday’s election marks a choice between the “policies that got us into this mess and the policies that are getting us out of this mess.”

“[Republicans] are promising the exact same agenda that resulted in the worst economy since the Great Depression,” Obama said. “An agenda of cutting taxes, mostly for millionaires and billionaires; you cut the rules for special interests, big corporations; you cut middle class families loose to fend for themselves. The same agenda that turned a record surplus into a record deficit. The same agenda that let Wall Street run wild. The same agenda that nearly destroyed our economy.”

Earlier Friday, Hurt described the president’s visit as a political “Hail Mary” and predicted it would help his effort to unseat Perriello.

Perriello, Obama said, voted to provide tax relief for college tuition, to prevent credit card companies from imposing hidden fees on consumers, to invest in education and preserve teachers’ jobs, to invest in 21st-century infrastructure and for an economic stimulus package that prevented a second Great Depression.

“He didn’t go to Washington to do what was easy, what was popular,” Obama said. “He went to Washington to do what was right.”

Perriello told the crowd of 9,000 inside the Pavilion area and more than 3,000 outside its entrance that he needs their help to rekindle the energy that helped him defeat six-term incumbent Virgil H. Goode Jr. by a margin of only 727 votes in 2008.

“Two years ago, we defied the pundits,” Perriello said. “Two years ago, we rejected everyone else’s definition of what was possible in politics and turned Virginia blue for the first time since the Civil Rights Act. And in Central and Southside Virginia, with your help, a guy with no political experience was able to step in and defeat an incumbent and be sent to Washington to be a part of that change.”

When he and Obama were elected, Perriello said, the United States was losing 740,000 jobs per month. Now, he said, they have managed to staunch the economic bleeding and the past nine months have seen private sector job growth.

“Because of what you did in 2008, you sent people to Washington who said ‘Not on our watch,’” Perriello said. “There will not be another economic depression on our watch.”

Hurt, a state senator from Chatham, dismissed Obama’s visit as a desperate move by the Perriello campaign.

“I think it’s refreshing to see that [Perriello] is now embracing the president in this late hour,” Hurt told reporters Friday morning in a conference call. “It shows that he recognizes that his campaign, up to this point, is not convincing people of his commitment to the people of the 5th District. So now I think he is throwing this Hail Mary pass to hope to energize his base. I would predict it will certainly have a positive effect on our base and we’ll see that enthusiasm on Nov. 2.”

Perriello, Hurt pointed out, voted in favor of most of Obama’s top domestic priorities, such as health care reform, the clean energy bill known as cap-and-trade and the economic stimulus package.

Obama’s visit, Hurt said, is “clearly payback for being a loyal foot soldier for the Obama-Pelosi agenda. The president recognizes his favorite congressman is in trouble.”

Tuesday’s election, Hurt said, will send an “overwhelming message” to Obama to dramatically cut government spending and get the federal debt under control.

Hurt sought to raise money off of Obama’s visit, sending out a fundraising pitch on Friday that urges supporters to donate to “send a message to Obama once and for all.”

Obama, however, said Perriello has not voted in lockstep with him.

“I’m not here because Tom votes with me on every issue,” Obama said at the rally. “Sometimes he disagrees with me. There are times when I know that his first allegiance is not to party labels, it is not to the Democratic Party. It is to the people of the 5th District of Virginia.”

Perriello touts his independence, noting that he voted against Obama’s stance on Wall Street regulatory reform, against Obama’s budget, against the bank bailouts and has called for the firing of Obama’s Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner.

Eric I. Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said Obama’s visit brings into focus Perriello’s consistent support for policies that, in Cantor’s view, have expanded the size and scope of government and slowed the pace of economic recovery.

“We are looking to his visit as something that really brings into focus the real question in this race, as to the direction this country should take,” Cantor, R-Henrico, said. “We could also say that probably I’m disappointed he’s not bringing Joe Biden and maybe he could bring Nancy Pelosi too. Because I think it’s very clear what direction Tom Perriello has in mind for this country, that is the Obama-Pelosi agenda that has been rejected by the people of the 5th District and the commonwealth of Virginia.”

Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, issued a statement Friday that said the policies supported by Obama and Perriello are costing Americans jobs, are adding trillions to the federal debt and could lead to higher energy prices.

“The president is a good man, but his policies have not been good for the people of Virginia,” McDonnell said. “Congressman Tom Perriello is also a good man, but his lockstep support of those policies has similarly not been positive for voters from Danville to Albemarle County.”

Janet Miller, president and CEO of Search Mojo, a small business in Charlottesville, said the policies enacted by Obama and Perriello have saved her company thousands in health care costs, after previously seeing her premiums rise by as much as 58 percent. Now, she said, her company has money to invest in its infrastructure, hire more employees and give back to the community.

“This year, due to the health care reform bill, there is a 35 percent tax credit for health care premiums,” she said. “That saved my business this year nearly $25,000.”

Obama called Perriello “one of the best congressmen Virginia’s ever had” and asked them to re-elect him to continue their work to “rebuild the middle class, put people back to work” and to “reclaim the American dream.”

“I need you guys to keep on fighting,” Obama said. “Tom needs you to keep on believing.”

Obama’s appearance was the first time he held a campaign rally on behalf of a single congressman this midterm election cycle.

Obama, who spoke at the rally for 31 minutes, arrived at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport a few minutes after 7 p.m. He was visible for fewer than 10 seconds as he walked from Air Force One down a flight of steps to a waiting SUV.

Police from Albemarle County, Charlottesville and the Virginia State Police and members of the U.S. Secret Service all provided security for the motorcade into Charlottesville, riding in a variety of vehicles, including dozens of motorcycles. There were also military personnel on hand for the arrival. Before the president’s plane landed, a helicopter swept the area around the runway with a searchlight, and federal personnel maintained a strict perimeter.

From Charlottesville, Obama was scheduled to head to a weekend of campaign stops on behalf of Democrats in Connecticut, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago.