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Virginia’s Goode could be Romney’s undoing
Human Events ^ | 7/23/2012 | John Gizzi

Posted on 07/24/2012 6:28:39 PM PDT by xzins

While many on the right fear that Constitution Party presidential candidate Virgil Goode might just draw enough votes in his native Virginia to tip the Old Dominion’s 14 electoral votes from Mitt Romney to Barack Obama, the former six-term congressman made it clear he doesn’t care.

Goode, in fact, feels that “in many ways, for conservatives, it might be better to have Obama as president next year rather than Romney.”

The 65-year-old Goode spoke to Human Events last week as he and his supporters were in the process of gathering the 10,000 signatures they need to submit before the Aug. 24 deadline to qualify for Virginia’s November ballot. Founded by Conservative Caucus chairman and venerable conservative leader Howard Phillips, the Constitution Party is so far on the ballot in 17 states. Right now, Goode told us, the party is making attempts to secure ballot positions in other key states such as Arkansas, Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania — the home state of the Constitution Party’s vice presidential nominee Jim Clymer.

But what has clearly set off alarm bells among conservatives lately is the scenario of Goode making the ballot in Virginia — where he won the 5th District U.S. House seat as a Democrat, Independent, and Republican from 1996 until his narrow defeat in 2008. Polls show the state, which Obama narrowly carried over John McCain in 2008, seesawing between the president and his Republican opponent in 2012. A just-completed Quinnipiac Poll showed Obama and Romney tied among likely Virginia voters, with each getting 44 percent — down from Obama’s 47 to 42 percent edge in the same poll in June.

Of particular concern to Republicans is Goode’s strength in his home turf: the Danville-Charlottesville area that he represented in Congress and previously as state senator. Four years after he lost the closest House race, the former congressman remains popular in his former turf. In addition, his hard-line stance on immigration, strong emphasis on limited government and focus on following the U.S. Constitution seems more likely to woo Virginians who would otherwise vote for Romney than those inclined to Obama.

“If I’m on the ballot in Virginia, I could cost Obama a lot of votes — possibly as much as or even more than Romney,” Goode told us, repeating a line that many third party contenders have taken over the years. “There are a lot of life-long Democrats (in the Fifth District) who say they’ll hold their nose and vote for Obama. But as the fellow in the filling station up the road told me, ‘I’m a Democrat, but if you’re on the ballot, Virgil, I’m voting for you.’”

We recalled how much as it was widely interpreted that Obama’s victory by a plurality over John McCain in North Carolina in 2008 was due to votes for Libertarian Bob Barr. We then pointed out to Goode that, regardless of his interpretation, pundits and political analysts would almost certainly interpret a narrow Obama win in Virginia to a strong Goode showing and asked how he would feel then.

“In many ways, for conservatives, it might be better to have Obama as president next year rather than Romney,” replied Goode, explaining that “it would be tougher to get through Congress some bad things under Obama than it would under Romney.”

“Take one for the team? Not me brother!”

Recalling how the president announced earlier this year his order not to pursue deportation of illegal aliens who complete high school or join the military, Goode noted that “Romney wouldn’t come out against the short-term amnesty. He was just going with the wind. If Obama were president, Republicans in Congress would oppose him on things like this on principle and almost unanimously. But if Romney were president, he would probably get it through (Congress).

“Remember how (Republican presidential candidate Rick) Santorum explained his vote for the No Child Left Behind (federal education program under George W. Bush) by saying: ‘Sometimes you’ve got take one for the team.’ That’s the argument Romney would use with Republicans to get them to pass things they normally wouldn’t oppose.”

As a Democrat in Congress in the 1990s, Goode pointed out that he voted a strong right-to-life line despite the fact that the Democratic leadership was in the other camp on the abortion issue. As a Republican from 2002-08, he said, “I was urged to ‘take one for the team’ and vote for CAFTA (a free trade agreement). I didn’t think it was good for the country and I opposed it. Sometimes you have to show some backbone.”

As a Democrat, Goode in the House scored unusually high ratings of 84 percent and 83 pe cent with the American Conservative Union; as an independent and later a Republican, his ratings went higher and his lifetime ACU average in 96 percent.

In carrying the banner of the Constitution Party, Virgil Goode is again not “taking one for the team.” Whether he qualifies for the Virginia ballot Aug. 24 and how well he does in his home state will surely be watched there, as well as by Republicans nationwide.


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: 2012swingstates; constitutionparty; elections; formerdemocrat; formerrino; goode; goode2012; obama2012; romney; takeoneforteam; thirdparty; thitdparty; va2012; virgilgoode
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To: pabianice

See #36


41 posted on 07/24/2012 6:56:44 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: pabianice
Perot gave Clinton the presidency.

(You can read that into it in '92; not '96...in '96 Dole & Perot combined for 49.1%...Clinton had 49.2% in '96)

42 posted on 07/24/2012 6:57:21 PM PDT by Colofornian (Saying Mitt would keep past political promises is like prophesying that Gumby won't bend anymore)
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To: Colofornian

What we do in the safe states isn’t going to matter. The election hinges on Virginia, Florida, and Ohio.

The people in those states who waste their Romney votes should discuss whether the consequences of a second term can ever be undone by our descendents.


43 posted on 07/24/2012 6:57:41 PM PDT by ReaganGeneration2
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To: MacMattico; firebrand

See #36


44 posted on 07/24/2012 6:58:11 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: Colofornian

What we do in the safe states isn’t going to matter. The election hinges on Virginia, Florida, and Ohio.

The people in those states who waste their Romney votes should discuss whether the consequences of a second term can ever be undone by our descendents.


45 posted on 07/24/2012 6:58:30 PM PDT by ReaganGeneration2
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To: xzins

Virgil Goode should rot in hell.


46 posted on 07/24/2012 6:59:55 PM PDT by Williams (No Obama)
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To: MacMattico
We can't survive another 4 years of O. And if Obama is elected again we probably won't survive another four years!

(So YOU're a religious prophet, eh?)

Or is Romney your political economic Messiah?

Are we to bow down & worship Romney now -- or later???

You'll "prophesy" for us that Romney WILL for 100% certain be our economic savior??? He and him alone & turn around the economy in a single bound?

Where's his superman uniform?

47 posted on 07/24/2012 6:59:56 PM PDT by Colofornian (Saying Mitt would keep past political promises is like prophesying that Gumby won't bend anymore)
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To: xzins

“...Conservatives, especially social conservatives, will turn elsewhere...”

:::::::::::::::::::

And I wonder where that would be? It is really amazing how blind to the big picture some FReepers are. The biggest issue in November is getting Obama out of the White House and cleaning Washington of all the anti-American trash he has created his “bypass ghost government” with. It does not matter WHO the other candidate is.

And when it comes to a conservative perspective, I am almost as conservative as they come. I left the Repubs about a decade ago for obvious reasons, mainly because I am a conservative. So I certainly do not need anyone defining conservatism to me. Especially from the perspective of our Constitutional Republic and what it all stands for, how it came to be, and WHY it came to be.

Time to get real. This is a top-down issue election. If Obama wins it, the Republic is gone. We can handle Romney.

Pray to God the majority of the electorate realize what the BIG problem really is.


48 posted on 07/24/2012 7:00:17 PM PDT by EagleUSA
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To: Williams
Virgil Goode should rot in hell.

Won't happen. He's a Virginia Baptist.

And they are OSAS! LOL!

49 posted on 07/24/2012 7:01:33 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: xzins
“In many ways, for conservatives, it might be better to have Obama as president next year rather than Romney,” replied Goode, explaining that “it would be tougher to get through Congress some bad things under Obama than it would under Romney.”

“Take one for the team? Not me brother!”

Romney has no basis for complaint. He too could "take one for the team" by withdrawing so that the party could pick a suitable candidate.

But, he probably won't. And then he'll lose.

50 posted on 07/24/2012 7:02:12 PM PDT by Tau Food (Tom Hoefling for President - 2012)
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To: taxcontrol

Obama rules by executive order. He is also giving billions to thugs.


51 posted on 07/24/2012 7:02:34 PM PDT by Carry me back
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To: xzins

“The Constitution Party is now, and has been since its inception, devoted to conservative principles.”

If electing Democrats is the result, they will defeat their principles.

The libertarian party says they are devoted to liberty.
Really? They ran a bunch of candidates in state-level Texas races in 2006 and 2008 and as a result turned GOP districts into Democrat ones. Those Democrats voted for bigger govt, more spending, the teachers unions and against the ‘liberty’ agenda. Many of the Republicans they defeated were just *fine* from the pov of ‘liberty’. Brilliant!

When will 3rd parties learn?


52 posted on 07/24/2012 7:02:42 PM PDT by WOSG (REPEAL AND REPLACE OBAMA. He stole AmericaÂ’s promise!)
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To: xzins

Show me ANYTHING you don’t like about Romney and I will show you TEN TIMES as many detestable things about Obama. Virgil is an idiot who barely 15 years ago ran as a Democrat.


53 posted on 07/24/2012 7:03:29 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.)
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To: Colofornian

I already know Obama is a demon from hell.


54 posted on 07/24/2012 7:03:47 PM PDT by Williams (No Obama)
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To: Colofornian
Stop being obtuse. Nobody is telling you to bow to Romney, or even like him -- hell, I don't like him at all. Romney is far from certainly our economic savior, and we won't turn the economy around in a single bound.

But we will NOT survive another obama term. How long before he issues a royal diktat executive order banning FR, conservative talk radio, or a host of other things we hold dear in our freedom?

Romney isn't our savior, Romney is breathng room.

55 posted on 07/24/2012 7:04:23 PM PDT by Copenhagen Smile (What if Jesus comes back like that?)
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To: xzins

It is time to think about buying off Goode, for his own goode interests—and the Nation’s interests.


56 posted on 07/24/2012 7:05:56 PM PDT by jonrick46 (Countdown to 11-06-2012)
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To: xzins

Ross Perot # 2.

We saw what that got us.


57 posted on 07/24/2012 7:06:13 PM PDT by Justice4awe
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To: EagleUSA

See #36

Romney just went before the Veterans of Foreign Wars, as pro-military group as you can get who OPPOSE openly gay members in the military and oppose military uniforms at gay pride parades.

Find me Romney’s comments, in front of this group that would certainly welcome them...find me his comments condemning military uniforms in gay pride parades.

Give me the link.


58 posted on 07/24/2012 7:06:13 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: Colofornian

“...You’ll “prophesy” for us that Romney WILL for 100% certain be our economic savior??? He and him alone & turn around the economy in a single bound?....”

:::::::::::::::::

Your attitude and twisted sarcasm toward Romney would be better received on DU. They will welcome your cheerleading for an Obama win....and the opportunity to turn the USA into another Venezuela. End of discussion.


59 posted on 07/24/2012 7:06:44 PM PDT by EagleUSA
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To: Colofornian

If you are standing in lava, a pile of shit is a much better place to stand.


60 posted on 07/24/2012 7:07:16 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.)
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