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Virgil Goode was a Democrat for years at the local, state and national level. In 2000, he became a Republican. Since that point, he has been repeatedly attacked by liberals and Democrats in an attempt to discredit him. No formal charges have been filed against Mr. Goode, it's just unfounded allegations and attempts to make him guilty by association.

A January 8, 2006 editorial published in the Martinsville Bulletin by a local resident paints a pretty colorful picture of this trend, and so I submitt that editorial for your review and comments:

Goode deserves area's support

"When Virgil Goode was a Democrat and a state senator, I voted for him. When Virgil Goode was a Democrat and a U. S. congressman, I voted for him. When Virgil Goode became a Republican congressman, I voted for him. Now, I do not live in his district, however if I could vote for him, I would vote for him again."

"Districts changed, parties changed, but Goode has not changed. The same person that represented our area with honor and dignity in the past is representing his district now. However, there are those in politics, the media and the community that continue to try to tear down Goode."

"I challenge those who now try to tear down Goode to honestly consider two points:

1) How many times in the past has Goode brought dishonor to our area? None. I think you will find that he has brought assistance from the Commonwealth and D.C. along with businesses and jobs to the area.

2) How many times has Goode refused to assist a constituent - heck anyone from Martinsville, Henry county, Patrick County and Franklin County - because they were not a member of the party he belonged to? None."

"It's time for us to put the shallowness and fickleness of politics aside and get on with being thankful for all our representatives in Richmond and Washington. It's time to leave the dog-eat-dog atmosphere in Washington and keep it out of our home area. It's time to be thankful for what we have and pray for good things to come in our future."

Robert Stout Sr.

Bassett, Virginia

"Lt. Governor Tim Caine didn't let them down, all but announcing his run for Governor in three and a half years. "We all want to get rid of Virgil for being a turncoat," Farmville Democrat Carl Eggleston said while announcing Mrs. Richards. "We're going to give Virgil a run for his money -- I mean OUR money!" Mrs. Richards told Democrats, who are still angry that Goode did not return campaign funds he raised as a Democrat."

http://www.blackstoneva.com/courier/062602b.shtml

"Virgil Goode and Co. don't get it"

http://www.raisingkaine.com/1470

Of course, Tim Kaine was just elected as Governor. The vendetta against Virgil Goode has been on-going for years. One can only imagine, with Governor Tim Kaine's appearance at the campaign rally where the vendetta was vocalized, and his on-record support of the Democrat candidates that voiced that vendetta, he may use the full power of his current political capital to go after Virgil Goode in the 2006 election cycle. One troubling aspect is that the first quote above came off the official web site of the Blackstone Chamber of Commerce. Shouldn't the Chamber of Commerce be focused on the business community, rather than politics? This should be interesting to watch. Let's see who takes the high road and who takes the low road first.

A July 12, 2005 newspaper article "Is MZM bad news for Goode?" states "Al Weed, Goode's Democratic challenger in 2004, says he does not think that "Virgil has done anything dishonest." Weed says he hasn't yet made a decision whether to run in 2006, but of the MZM issue... he says "It'll become part of the campaign, I'm sure."

www.c-ville.com/www/archives/2005/07-12-2005/asp/3.asp



A November 9, 2005 USA TODAY article about MZM, "Secret military spending gets little oversight," tried tying Virgil Good to "Duke" Cunningham. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington ... htm?csp=34



Less than a week later, Democrat Al Weed announced his second run against Virgil Goode in a November 15, 2005 newspaper article. www.c-ville.com/www/archives/2005/11-15-2005/asp/1.asp



Al Weed said the MZM issue would "become part of the campaign" even though he does not think "Virgil has done anything dishonest." That sounds like early evidence of a smear campaign. Hopefully, Al Weed will take the high road and stay out of the mud, so he won't be tempted to sling any.

Rep. Goode responded to the November 9, 2005 USA TODAY article trying to tie him to the "Duke" Cunningham scandal in a November 10, 2005 Martinsville Bulletin report "Goode refutes article, defends MZM ties."

A related November 10, 2005 Martinsville Bulletin article "City signed agreement for money to help MZM" reports that Martinsville city officials signed an agreement for $627,000 that was then funneled to MZM, after the company refused to sign the agreement. To my knowledge, there has been no formal investigation into that chapter of the MZM book.

www.martinsvillebulletin.com under "Archive"

The campaign against Virgil Goode has already taken a turn down the low road. The following came from a letter to the editor of the Martinsville Bulletin newspaper published on Tuesday, January 17, 2006:

"Goode silent on college"

"Although the headline in the Danville paper may have read "Southside college plans dismissed," there remains hope for the dreams of Martinsville/Henry County. The AP reported that the SCHEV's lack of enthusiasm was reflected in the statement that "one institution can't single-handedly solve the area's economic woes." Maybe Southside is too low on the state's priority list, but where is Mr. Goode when Southside needs him? Has he been silent because he doesn't want to give a Democrat (Gov. Tim Kaine) any credit for a good idea? In my campaign for Congress in the 5th District I will be talking about how a congressman with vision can leverage community efforts to ensure real progress for all of our citizens. Mr. Goode has had almost 10 years now; it is clear that he isn't part of the solution."

Al Weed, Nelson County

Candidate for the 5th District House seat



Candidate Weed's campaign letter leaves the reader with the impression that the former New College of Virginia, now called the New College Institute, was the brainchild of newly elected Governor Tim Kaine, who just took office on January 14, 2006. That could not be farther from the truth. Did Mr. Kaine, as Lt. Governor of Virginia, support the plans for a new four-year college in the Henry County / Martinsville area in the past year or two? Yes. Was it his idea? No.

The idea for a new four-year college was brought forth and codified in House Joint Resolution No. 197 as bi-partisan legislation in January 2004, sponsored and supported by Republicans and Democrats alike. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504 ... +ful+HJ197.

Locally, the concept study for the new college was funded by the Harvest Foundation, located in Henry County. This was reported in the June 4, 2004 edition of the Martinsville Bulletin in an article "University plan unveiled" that states "Carrier has accepted an offer from the board of the Harvest Foundation, the agency that commissioned the study, to head up the university initiative..." Candidate Weed's letter appeared in the same Bulletin edition as a January 17, 2006 article "New College Institute get's Kaine's support" http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com under "Archives"

It is disingenuous, and an outright lie, to state that the plan for the New College Institute is solely the result of ideas and actions taken by Democrats. Rep. Virgil Goode has been a strong advocate for continued, higher education over the course of his entire political career, at the local, state and national levels. Candidate Weed has already chosen the low road by misrepresenting the truth in order to try to make some political hay. Candidate Weed should be ashamed of himself for trying to hijack this bi-partisan plan for the New College Institute.

I've got relatives that live near Virgil Good's home office and they tell me he has been the same no matter what party he belongs to and doesn't care what party someone in his district belongs to, he trys to help everybody. People have been going after him ever since he voted to impeach Clinton, then switched parties. This is nothing but a grudge campaign, from what I can see.