Virginia is one of the top priorities this election. This Thursday there will be a phone banking effort in Cobble Hill to get out the vote for Congressional candidate Tom Perriello and for Barack Obama.

Tom Perriello, running for Congress in the VA-5 district against Republican Virgil Goode, may be a particularly important person for us to get into Congress because of his excellent diplomatic record. After 8 years of Bush’s failed foreign policy, we need some people with excellent diplomatic skills in government to help clean up the mess. Goode is stuck in the Bush/McCain thinking. By contrast, Perriello has a record of diplomatic success in difficult regions. Back when Sierra Leone was one of the world’s most violent hot spots, Tom worked with child soldiers, amputees, and local pro-democracy groups, and played a significant role in the peace and reconciliation process that ended twelve years of violence there. He then became Special Advisor and spokesperson for the International Prosecutor during the showdown that forced Liberian dictator Charles Taylor (who was also responsible for the violence in Sierra Leone) from power without firing a shot. THAT is the kind of diplomatic skill America needs after years of Bush/McCain blunders. After this success, Tom served as a national security analyst for the Century Foundation. He has worked inside Darfur and twice in Afghanistan, so he knows about the hot spots of today. This is the kind of leadership we need in Congress! He is raising record amounts of money to defeat the incumbent Republican. For me, this is a critical pick up opportunity.

It's coming down to the wire. We have only a few more weeks to make history and to restore hope to an America bogged down in an economic crisis, the Iraq Quagmire, and an energy crisis. A few hours or a few days of your time could be critical in determining the course of the next decade. We must elect Barack Obama and make gains in the Senate and House to really effect change. Here are things you can do, either by phone at home or by taking a road trip.

My fellow Indenpendent Neighborhood Democrats board member, Tom, has been doing wonderful work organizing voter registration events in Pennsylvania. His last effort sounds particularly successful. We all were inspired by Obama's speech at the Convention, (note...the republican convention really seems a bust, doesn't it?). If you want to help bring the dream to a reality, you can join his next effort on September 13th. Here is Tom's latest message:

Dear Friends,

Two weeks ago I asked you to, "Get on the Bus" to Pennsylvania for Barack Obama. Guess what? So many of you responded, Trans-Bridge Bus Lines, which services Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, had to give us a second bus.

Here's what you did this past Saturday in the Easton area:

You knocked on 2,166 doors
You spoke to 732 people
You registered 114 new voters

In 62 days Americans will decide what kind of country and what kind of world we want for ourselves and our children. I want each of you to look to the left, look to the right, grab whoever you see. Tell them to wake up. Tell them it's time. Sixty-two days. If they ask you what time it is, tell them the time is NOW. Tell them: