which by now I hope people could get correct.  

1) The Hummer did not pull a float
2) the Hummer had no direct association with Goode
3) The Hummer was not owned by either of the people named.  It is technically owned by the wife of one of my classmates at Sorensen, who lives in Fluvanna County.  It was serving as a vehicle for the local Republican party, which is why the was a sign for Goode, who is after all the Republican candidate, on the side.

There are lots of things about which we can validly criticize Goode.  This is not one of them.

Other "technicalities" aside, the Hummer is clearly pulling the Fluvanna County Republican float in the video and Goode took advantage of the photo op.

Would venture to say that had Perriello's float (or any Democratic float) been pulled by a Hummer, we certainly would have seen that plastered on YouTube as well.....

The Hummer did not pull a float. It did.
Your #2 states The Hummer had no direct association with Goode. I beg to differ.

However,my POINT simply was that had Perriello's float been pulled by a Hummer it would certainly have been all over YouTube as well(and probably on the Fox nightly news).

Virgil driving around in a Hummer would be counter productive with his constituency. He knows his base far better than that.

Don't know where you live, but I live in the 5th. ANYTHING that helps show Virgil for what he really is works for me.

The Hummer did have an association with Goode. Was is "direct?" Well, I guess that depends on what the meaning of "direct" is.

Number 3 is fairly hilarius. If by "technical," you mean the name on the title, what is the relevance of this point? We know that some guy from the Fluvanna GOP owned the Hummer and Goode had some association with it, which is the point of all this.

Sure, stories should be factuall accurate, but this seems to me to miss the whole point of a legitimate political message.  

Thank you, Ken. I keep pointing these things out, but nobody wants to hear the truth on this. Virgil drives a tiny, old American-made car. The guy doesn't keep getting reelected by riding in a parade; he knows you've got to walk along and shake every last person's hand.

Are we going to attack candidates for the trivial actions of their private supporters? Because I don't think we want to go down that road.

Isn't it true that there are  alot of aspects to political campaigns, one of which is attacking candidates for the trivial actions of their supporters when those trivial actions make a larger point? Even when those actions aren in and of themselves unimportant, they can serve as symbols for a larger truth.

Here is a larger truth about Virgil Goode. He has a voting record that has consistently favored the interests of big oil over those of ordinary Americans. I'll even give him the benefit of the doubt and say that this isn't a matter of corruption on his part, but a sincere, albeit migguided view of what constitutes good policy.

Good luck getting low information voters to understand that! But they understand Virgil and a Hummer, because a picture is worth a thousand words (there is a reason aphorisms become aphorisms, after all). But why get hung up on the technicality of whose name is on the title, and whether Virgil actually rode in the vehicle for a mile, a meter, or not at all. The vehicle was a part of Virgil's presence at the parade that day.

We're not talking about lying to create a false impression of Virgil. Rather, we are talking about the use of an image from which Virgil benefitted to make a legitimate political point about Virgil's political positions.

Many voters will perceive this in precisely the opposite way. You know the old drawing of two faces / a vase? That's what this is here. Those who oppose Virgil Goode will see this as evidence that he's out of touch, in bed with the oil industry, etc. Those who support Virgil Goode will see this as evidence that Democrats from Charlottesville don't know the first damned thing about Goode, since he'd never drive such an ostentatious car, and even if it was his car, so what, because he's paying for the gas, so what's it to you?

At best this will change nobody's mind -- it's a non-issue, as Lloyd points out. At worst this will reflect badly on Tom Perriello, to the extent to which he'll be tied to the yankees trying to tell lies to the good folks of the 5th about their congressman.

And I appreciate your metaphor (or is it literary allusion?) to the vase with two faces. My only point is that the technical accuracy of the charge (who owned the Hummer, whether he was riding in it or walking alongside, etc. etc. etc.) misses the point.

Will it change anyone's mind on its own? I don't know. But I do think it was a good symbolic way to make the point that Virgil votes with big oil, which I think is a good, populist argument against him. I also think earning the mockery of Jon Stewart is a good thing for the campaign -- not in changing minds, but in generating generalized buzz around Perriello's efforts to unseat an entrenched incumbent. This buzz has a way opf permeating a campaign and affecting the perceptions of people to the candidates in subtle ways that not even they realize.

And finally, it seems to have gotten under Virgil's skin.

This was, IMHO, clearly a net positive for the Perriello campaign. The opportunity presented itself, and the campaign took advantage of it in a good way.

That's the crucial point here.  Ask George Allen whether "Felix" and all the other stuff Jarding & Co. came up with got under HIS skin. :)

P.S. Just make sure you capture it on video when Virgil blows his top, points his finger, and does his best George "Macaca" Allen imitation.

The driver of the float, Ty Wigal is an ardent supporter of Goode, a member of the Fluvanna Rep. Committee, and is well known to Virgil.

Per Wigal's wife, Virgil was specifically asked if his campaign signs could be attached to the Hummer, to which he approved.
(Per her post on AfterDowningStreet)

if Virgil Goode actually owned the Hummer?  Huh?

"I don't even know who owned the Hummer," when that's obviously absurd?  That's not an issue?

But watching that video, Goode is running to catch up to his float which looks like it was pulled by a large pick-up which is about as efficient as the H2.  In either case, it doesn't really stack up to a bio-fueled tractor, does it?

That Video is comic genius.  Republican or Rapper?

Get real. Guess you have never seen the vehicles Virgil rides around in. I saw him in one back in 2008. It was almost on it's last leg.

I have never seen  him in a new vehicle. Most of then are used vehicles or vehicles of his staff.

Little and I mean Little. He has to scrunch up in them. I am surprized he can stand straight when he gets out of one of them.

Image is everything.  And this is not a Goode image for Virgil.

Chairman Chris Van Hollen is going to be holding a conference call this morning at 11:10 am with Virginia press to discuss the Congressional opportunities the DCCC sees in Virginia, including VA-05.

Hmmmm...is "Red to Blue" on the agenda?  We'll see.

I hate to say you are wrong but if you are trying to tell me that the hummer is not pulling his float you are clearly mistaken, haven't actually seen the video, or work for Mr. Goode (Probably all three) as it is clearly pulling the float. Obviously the Daily Show realized it was pulling it or they would not have put it on their news nor would the people who filmed the tape put it up if they hadn't recognized it as clearly being his float, which it is. I am sorry whoever you are but that is pulling Mr. Goode's float and regardless of the distance or whether he was actually in the hummer his float is being pulled by a hummer and in the political world that is enough to associate the candidate with the use of the hummer. He should have known better and I am thoroughly disgusted with Mr. Goode for his use of the hummer to pull his float.

Even if it is the Fluvanna Republicans, Goode is a Republican and the highest member of his party at the event so therefore he is responsible for all things associated with the Republicans at this event and should have checked into the float before hand and realized the hummer pulling the float was wrong and told them to change it. This is his problem he had the authority to fix it and did nothing, shame on you Mr. Goode  

If Virgil was still a Democrat would all this talk be going on about the hummer.. I think not..

Virgil Goode is an embarrassment to Virginia and his people in Southside - mocking Muslims, prostituting himself to Beltway Bandit Swindler Mitch Wade and Co.  What has Virgil Goode done for his people other than incite their fears, and prejudice?  He was a shitty Democrat - which is why the Republicans were able to get him for a bucket of warm spit and two pouches of chew.  He could have lived up to his smarts and education but instead he took the low road and has lead his people down.  

I think the point of why this is noteworthy -- and I am not saying it is particularly newsworthy -- is that the symbolism of the Hummer vs. the biodiesel tractor is just really cool, because it is such a perfect proxy for the difference between Republicans and Democrats, and the difference between Virgil and Tom.  If Tom had had the Hummer and Virgil had had the tractor, it would not have the same resonance.

Now, I don't look on the Virgil-and-the-Hummer story as the 2008 equivalent of Macaca; it's not.  As I said, I don't see it as newsworthy.  I was amazed to see that Jon Stewart found out about it, and I that someone had an inspiration that led to a farcical bit.  

But back to the question of Virgil -- I don't think that the fact that the Fluvanna Republicans regard a Hummer as their best foot to put forward tells us anything about Virgil and the Republicans we didn't already know.  And what it tells us doesn't depend on whether the Hummer was owned by the chair of the party, as I was told, or by Ty Wigal, as someone else has reported, or even a third person all together, as you say.  Either way, the fact that the Republicans are driving a Hummer -- a silver Hummer, at that -- sends a message that they probably didn't even realize they were sending.  

Of course, aside from a bunch of us pointy-headed intellectuals who can't park our bicycles straight, to quote George Wallace, no one out in the real world cares.   But the Wyatt Cenac bit was quite funny, in a farcical way.

Check this story being repeated in my rss feed from the local news station here:
http://www.wavy.com/global/sto...

I bet this will get more coverage than Goode's gaffe...