Politics

Former Va. Rep. Virgil Goode announces presidential bid

Steven Nelson Associate Editor
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Virgil Goode Jr. may have served six terms as a congressman from Virginia, but he now feels he can best effect change as the Constitution Party’s candidate for president.

In a brief interview with The Daily Caller, Goode said that his platform consists of four planks: limited government, border security, rapidly adopting a balanced budget and enacting term limits.

“If I’m fortunate enough to get the nomination of the Constitution Party, I will take as many votes from Obama as I would from the Republican nominee,” he said.

Goode was elected to his first term in Congress as a Democrat in 1996. In 2000 he successfully ran for a third term as an independent, before then being re-elected three more times as a Republican. He lost his 2008 bid for re-election.

The former congressman expects to appeal to Democratic voters because he is “for limited campaign donations,” and refusing to accept donations over $200. “I think that is a more grassroots position than President Obama has,” Goode said. “He is rolling in maximum donations from wealthy people all over the county.”

Goode declined to disparage any of the Republican candidates for president, but did predict a close race in Virginia’s March 6 primary between Mitt Romney and Ron Paul — the only two candidates to submit enough signatures to appear on the ballot.

“I expect it will be a fairly close,” he said of the GOP primary in his state. “I think Representative Paul’s fiscal restraint positions will play well in Virginia.” Goode says, however, that he will not cast a ballot for either candidate.

Goode told TheDC that he has been on the Constitution Party’s executive committee for two years, and said that his beliefs “are more in line” with that party than the Libertarian Party.

If selected as the Constitution Party’s nominee, Goode would likely appear on ballots alongside other well-known Americans running as third-party candidates, including actress Roseanne Barr — who is seeking the Green Party nomination — and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who is likely to secure the Libertarian Party’s nod.


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