Virgil Goode makes presidential ballot in Virginia

A

AK Forty Seven

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...c57ea6-f698-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html

Virgil Goode makes presidential ballot in Virginia


Former congressman Virgil Goode Jr. has qualified for the presidential ballot in Virginia, the State Board of Elections ruled Tuesday, adding a potential obstacle to Republican Mitt Romney’s hopes of winning the pivotal state.

The state Republican Party is challenging Goode’s eligibility, alleging petition fraud, and the Constitution Party’s nominee still could be knocked off the ballot. Goode served in Congress as a Democrat, an Independent and then a Republican before losing his southwest Virginia seat in 2008, and could siphon votes from Romney .

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein also made the ballot on Tuesday.

Third-party hopefuls rarely garner many votes in Virginia, but Goode’s status as a longtime officeholder — he spent 12 years in Congress and 24 years in the state Senate before that — could bring him more support than usual. Just 2 or 3 percent of the vote going to Goode could be enough to swing the contest.
 
This guy was a Blue Dog democrat before switching parties. He won't just be siphoning votes from Romney. There are a lot of conservative Dems in VA that will vote for him, especially in the rural area where Obama did suprisingly well in '08.
 
Quote from Arnie:

This guy was a Blue Dog democrat before switching parties. He won't just be siphoning votes from Romney. There are a lot of conservative Dems in VA that will vote for him, especially in the rural area where Obama did suprisingly well in '08.
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If that was the case republicans wouldn't be trying to get him off the ballot


The state Republican Party is challenging Goode’s eligibility, alleging petition fraud, and the Constitution Party’s nominee still could be knocked off the ballot
 
Quote from AK Forty Seven:

If that was the case republicans wouldn't be trying to get him off the ballet


The state Republican Party is challenging Goode’s eligibility, alleging petition fraud, and the Constitution Party’s nominee still could be knocked off the ballot
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Fair point. My guess is these guys don't really know that much about political history in Va. When I was growing up in Va, the worst thing you could do was admit to being a Republican. This goes back to reconstruciton. It wasn't until after the civil rights movement that you saw a big switch to Republicans.

Scroll down this list. You will see two Republican Gov just after the Civil War and then a long list of all Democrats. It wasn't until after the '60's you see another Republican.

Again, my point is that with Virgil Goode's history, he is just as likely to take some of the moderate/conservative Democrat vote as well as some Republican votes. Overall, I think it will be a wash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_Virginia
 
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