Our Person of the Year_ Tom Perriello

The votes are in. And, after recounting and recounting and then recounting again, we have decided to name Congressmen-elect Tom Perriello (D-Va) our Person of the Year.

The two other nominees were Bill Maher and Colin Powell. We did not consider Barack Obama as he was already named Time magazine's Person of the Year, and we did not want to be sued.

Poet Nikki Giovanni, who is also a professor at Virginia Tech, was last year's winner.

We choose Perriello because he not only won the closest congressional race in the country (not counting the still undecided Minnesota senate race), but because he also pulled one of the greatest political upsets in Virginia's modern history.

Periello's opponent was Cong. Virgil Goode (R-Va), a once popular politician from Rocky Mount who had a loyal following among rural residents of the Fifth District, was first elected to Congress in 1996. There is still an old campaign "Goode for Congress" on Rte. 220 in Boones Mill, not far from a pro-life billboard.

But while Goode, who was ironically once a Democrat, was popular among the God, Gun and Country voters, he was becoming a corrupt and controversial figure on The Hill which was highlighted by his implication in the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Goode also made insulting remarks about Muslim Americans. In two instances, he said he would work diligently to make sure no Muslims came into the country. As the son of a Turkish immigrant who grew up and still partly resides in Virginia, I was outraged by Goode's sentiment and I went public condemning his statements which he routinely refused to apologize for, even though some close friends advised me against it.

Even though the mostly rural makeup of the Fifth District is not one for ethnic diversity, Goode faced problems. He was very unpopular in Charlottesville, the district's most liberal zip code, and with African-American voters in places like Martinsville and Danville. And, public sentiment was turning against him. The conservative-leaning newspaper "Danville Register and Bee" broke form and surprisingly endorsed Perriello.

But, Periello, 34, still trailed Goode by 32 percent in polls some three months before the election. He would officially win by 727 votes after a second recount affirmed his victory.

He won a district that John McCain carried with both an outstanding campaign and an impressive personal story. An alumnus of Yale, Perriello went on to help prosecute war lords from Sierra Leone and Liberian dictator Charles Taylor. He also launched the progressive religious organization faithfulamerica.org

People across the nation may not know much about Perriello, but I feel strongly that they will in the very near future. His story has just begun.

While I will candidly admit that my enthusiasm for Perriello was at first based on the fact that he was challenging a man I intensely disliked for very personal reasons, the reasons why he is this blog's Person of the Year have nothing to do with Cong. Goode.

Perriello is in his own right an exceptional person, and I feel that our generation of leaders, from both political parties, are going to help reshape America's regard for politicians. Perriello is sure to lead the way.