Carter Elliot, Staff Columnist~
Throughout my life I have had many opportunities to meet and get to know many politicians and government officials. However, there is one whom I can truly call a friend. I first met Tom Perriello in 2008, I was about 10 years old and and had just started getting into politics.
I had already begun to work on Senator Barack Obama’s campaign for president when my aunt accepted a position on Tom Perriello’s congressional campaign for the 5th District of Virginia.
Even though I was 10, I immediately found that Tom was a man who I could trust and who would do amazing work for the state of Virginia. He was always charismatic and carried himself in a way that made you like him immediately. I made phone calls and knocked on doors for him all the way until election day.
Throughout that time, Tom frequently came to my grandfather’s dairy farm and to the city of Lynchburg. Tom ended up winning the election against the incumbent Virgil Goode, and my aunt eventually accepted a position to be his legislative director in Washington D.C.
During his term in office, Tom accomplished many things, and throughout his tenure as a congressman, he frequently returned to Virginia and visited the localities throughout the state. He often checked in on my family and even encouraged me to earn my Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.
Tom has always been a class act and an honest man. I am ever so proud to have him come and speak at Lynchburg College on Monday, Sept. 25 in Hopwood Auditorium at 7 p.m.