“Let’s face it, political courage is hard to come by,” Obama said. “The easiest thing to do, especially when you’re a first-term congressman, the easiest thing to do is make your decisions based on the polls. You put your fingers up to the wind, you check which way the political wind is blowing before you cast every vote. That’s how a lot of folks think they should do their jobs in Washington.”
“And that’s not who Tom is.”

In preventing catastrophic economic collapse and fighting for Virginia jobs, Obama said Perriello went to Washington to “do what was right.”

With his sleeves rolled up, he led the crowd of more than 8,000 supporters in chanting “Go, Tom, go! Go, Tom, go!”