VA 5th Congressional District: State Senator Rob Hurt signaling he intends to run

I've had many conversations over the last year about the bench strength of the Republicans in the 5th Congressional District. Nearly 15 people have either announced or indicated their intent to run, but the strongest among them has now indicated he intends to challenge Tom Perriello. According to the Lynchburg News Advance, State Senator Rob Hurt (R-Chatham) will file papers with the Federal Election Commission to become a candidate for the GOP nomination in the 5th Congressional District. While Hurt is little known outside of Southside Virginia, he definitely fits the mold of the young conservative with a traditional wife and kids. Just to be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this.

Rob Hurt's campaign themes are clear - low taxes, less government, less regulation, conservative social values will put this country back on track. There is little doubt that he is going to bang this drum all day and everyday through the 2010 Midterm Elections, but the questions that he will have to answer at some point are how are we going to pay for all the rural infrastructure that is needed spur economic development, promote job growth and creation, and also digitally connect rural communities with high-speed Internet that is holding so many things back. Our overall national infrastructure has been rated a "D" and this has the greatest impact to economic development and commerce than cutting taxes. At some point, we have to pay for something and cutting taxes will not build roads, bridges, and overpasses. But again, we get the government we deserve.

I can see the money spent in this race exceeding $5 million, easily. The only other question about Rob Hurt is his ability to raise the kind of money it is going to take to mount a serious challenge, and he has not had a race where he has needed to raise more that $200,000 to win. We shall see...