Democratic Civil War: Perriello Attacks Northam’s Establishment Ties

With the DNC race now over, the epicenter of the divisive Democratic civil war is the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary. In that primary, former Congressman Tom Perriello has tried to differentiate himself from Lt. Governor Ralph Northam by moving far to the left, while at the same time painting Northam as a tool of the Democratic establishment.

Speaking with the Loudoun Tribune, Perriello continued blasting both Northam and Governor Terry McAuliffe as members of the “status quo” that isn’t bringing new ideas to Virginia voters:

Gov. Terry McAuliffe and other high-profile Virginia Democrats have endorsed your primary opponent. How is that impacting campaign? “The establishment and consolidation around (Northam) has been super helpful to our campaign. I think it’s definitely something that has grabbed people’s attention that someone who doesn’t come from the same status quo is bringing new ideas to the table. I think that helps us a lot in terms of building momentum.”

While Perriello attacks Northam for being part of the establishment, he’s also trying to promote himself as someone who has an “aggressive policy agenda”. Yet in order to tout such a liberal record, Perriello has been forced to flip-flop on a number of issues, including guns, abortion, immigration, and energy. These flip-flops while hurt Perriello if he makes it into a general election. Either way, both Northam and Perriello aren’t going to be able to emerge from their hard fought primary unscathed.