Tom Perriello, the Democratic Nominee for the Fifth District of Virginia, will be liveblogging at Firedoglake from 2pm EST to 4pm EST. Perriello is challenging Virgil Goode, the Republican incumbent.

Perriello, 33, is a national security consultant who has worked in Afghanistan, Darfur, and helping peacefully depose the dictator Charles Taylor. He has founded progressive faith-based organizations like Faithful America and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and also co-founded Avaaz.org, the online humanitarian and social action fund with over 3.3 million members worldwide.

Virgil Goode is somewhat infamous for his remarks about Keith Ellison and has recently been found to be repeating the lies about China drilling off the coast of Florida. He is also part of the Tom Tancredo wing of the Republican Party.

Whoever writes the Republican talking points needs to either fact-check better, or improve their redaction process, because this is getting ridiculous. The bogus claim that China is drilling 50 miles off the coast of Florida has been thoroughly refuted. Republican Sen. Mel Martinez said on the floor of the Senate

China is not drilling off the coast of Cuba. Reports to the contrary are simply false. They are akin to urban legends. China drilling off the coast of Cuba only 60 miles from the Keys, that is not taking place...any talk of using some fabricated Cuba-China connection as an argument to change U.S. policy has no merit.

Tom Perriello, the Democratic nominee for Virginia's 5th Congressional District and recently named as one of 20 emerging races by the DCCC in its Red to Blue program, is an expert on national security and has devoted his life to making the world safer around him.

He released the following statement on the recent "compromise" by the Democratic leadership and Republicans on FISA:

I love hard work. It's our promise in that great agreement that is the American Dream. But too often I feel like our politicians are coasting while we're trying to make ends meet. Remember when Jack Kingston complained after the 2006 election that the new Democrat controlled House was going to have a 5 day work week which would "make Congressional marriages suffer"?

I'm tired of Republicans (and Congress in general) appearing to be on vacation more often than President Bush. That's why watching Tom Perriello accept the Democratic nomination in the Virginia 5th was so exciting. I've found someone who is committed to working long hours to actually serve the people he represents!

Tom Perriellois the progressive Democrat fighting for the people of the Virginia 5th. He is running against Virgil Goode who is not bringing jobs to Southside, embarrassing his district with racist comments, and now not standing up for his constituents constitutional rights.

This is Tom Perriello's statement on FISA

With the wonderful news that the good people of the Indiana Seventh have elected Andre Carson to fill his late grandmother’s term, making him the second Muslim ever to serve in Congress. I wrote about the first Muslim elected to Congress, Keith Ellison, in the journal Religion in the News. I think that it is time to review how far we have come in our acceptance of Muslims in public life.