5th District Shenanigans
My hometown, Charlottesville, is located in Virginia's 5th District. People in CD5 like to elect a moderate sort of Democrat, like the current Congressman, Virgil H. Goode Jr was once upon a time (he's switched parties and is now a very conservative Republican). Charlottesville is a liberal enclave in what is a much more conservative, and much more rural district (the 5th is larger than the entire state of New Jersey). Mr. Goode is the son of another Virgil Goode, who was a commonwealth's attorney (read DA) back in the day. Virgil Sr. was a good man, a good Democrat, and everybody loved him.
That's why they all vote for his son. It is extremely frustrating to campaign against this guy when everybody feels a loyalty to his family. It's extremely frustrating to be campaigning on the Virgil H. Goode Sr. Highway. It's extremely frustrating to be campaigning against someone with a warchest of over $5 million.
That's why it an eminently qualified candidate (especially for this district) like Al Weed was only able to muster 36.28% of the vote last November. This is why I am very glad to see this...
It turns out Mr. Goode (who once told me, a constituent, that he was glad I was going back to Rhode Island) has gotten himself tangled up in a little scandal.
Some of you may have heard about Congressman Randy Cunningham (D-CA) who may have gotten favors from a defense contractor, MZM, in return for political favors. Now, there is one Congressman in the entire nation that has gotten more campaign contributions from MZM and its employees. Who? That's right, Virgil Goode.
It turns out that in the past few years Virgil has gotten over 100,000 in donations from MZM and its employees. MZM, in turn, has gotten over 600,000 in defense contracts, possibly with the help of Goode, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee along with Randy Cunningham (and Patrick Kennedy '91, but that's beside the point).
I SMELL A SCANDAL!!!!
For several days I have watched this scandal creep from a few local blogs, to a couple of national blogs (such as Talking Points Memo), and finally, today, to the Washington Post (see link above). This looks like a bonafide scandal in the making, and I can't wait to ask Virgil the tough questions on the campaign trail.
UPDATE: Thanks to James Cook for this info about the Goode/MZM connection (lifted from the comments).
That's why they all vote for his son. It is extremely frustrating to campaign against this guy when everybody feels a loyalty to his family. It's extremely frustrating to be campaigning on the Virgil H. Goode Sr. Highway. It's extremely frustrating to be campaigning against someone with a warchest of over $5 million.
That's why it an eminently qualified candidate (especially for this district) like Al Weed was only able to muster 36.28% of the vote last November. This is why I am very glad to see this...
It turns out Mr. Goode (who once told me, a constituent, that he was glad I was going back to Rhode Island) has gotten himself tangled up in a little scandal.
Some of you may have heard about Congressman Randy Cunningham (D-CA) who may have gotten favors from a defense contractor, MZM, in return for political favors. Now, there is one Congressman in the entire nation that has gotten more campaign contributions from MZM and its employees. Who? That's right, Virgil Goode.
It turns out that in the past few years Virgil has gotten over 100,000 in donations from MZM and its employees. MZM, in turn, has gotten over 600,000 in defense contracts, possibly with the help of Goode, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee along with Randy Cunningham (and Patrick Kennedy '91, but that's beside the point).
I SMELL A SCANDAL!!!!
For several days I have watched this scandal creep from a few local blogs, to a couple of national blogs (such as Talking Points Memo), and finally, today, to the Washington Post (see link above). This looks like a bonafide scandal in the making, and I can't wait to ask Virgil the tough questions on the campaign trail.
UPDATE: Thanks to James Cook for this info about the Goode/MZM connection (lifted from the comments).
posted by Dan Kachur at 11:15 PM
1 Comments:
Check out Irregular Times for a great summation of Goode's, um, problem.
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