AL WEED CAN FIX SOMETHING THAT IS FAR FROM GOODE IN VIRGINIA'S FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Virginia politics scares the hell out of me-- every morning. When I check out LeftyBlogs there are always more posts from Virginia than from the rest of the country combined. (Well, Massachusetts is right up there with them.) There are so many Virginians blogging about politics-- and for these gentlefolk this is a BLOODSPORT. I mean, if you're a regular-- or even an irregular-- DWT reader, you know I can bash up anyone associated with the DLC and the Inside the Beltway Democratic elite power establishment headed by Rahm Emanuel and other anti-worker/anti-consumer Democrats. But these Virginians... they just beat the HELL out of whomever the other candidate it. The Webb v Harris senatorial primary battle has turned me off so badly that I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot poll. First I was excited about Webb because it looked like he could beat Allen in the general. But then it dawned on me that a little Zell Miller might be hiding in there ready to jump out as soon as he was elected so I decided to check out Harris Miller. I interviewed him and I have to say he was the most boring, unelectable candidate I ever heard in my life. So I was kind of left worrying about the other 49 states instead. But every morning I see all these Virginia posts and I'm aghast! Here, let me see a few today: "Is Harris Miller the Anti- Christ? (from Virginia Centrist), "Miller to Wave the White Flag" (The Richmond Democrat), "Did Harris Miller Dodge the Draft?" (Raising Kaine), "Harris Miller, 'A Worm With Hair'" and "Harris MIller is a Lobbyist" and "Harris Miller is Conceited" (The Virginia Progressive), "Harris Miller Admits Crime On The Air" (Not Larry Sabato)... and that's just what I noticed today!

So it is with some amount of trepidation that I'm venturing into the wonderful world of Virginia politics today. Normally I wouldn't but Virginia has a congressman, a right wing psycho, who has ventured into my territory: the Randy "Duke" Cunningham bribery scandals: Virgil Goode, Jr. Officially Goode represents the 5th congressional district but he's commonly referred to as Virgil Goode, Jr. (R-MZM). You probably remember that last February Mitchell Wade, one of the Republican defense contractors who has already pled guilty to bribing Cunningham, also told the Feds that he was paying off Goode and Katherine Harris for favors they were doing (or, in the case of the incompetent Harris, trying to do) for his businesses. But the MZM connection is hardly Goode's first brush with the muck and slime of the Republican Culture of Corruption. Not by a long shot.

The 5th distict appears on a map like an arrowhead penetrating into the south-central portion of the state from North Carolina with an apex just north of Charlottesville. Goode is the first Republican to represent the area since Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox (which is in the district) But he started his political career as a Democrat-- sort of. He ran as a Democrat and consistently voted as a Republican, first in the state senate and later in the U.S. House. After aping Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller, undermining Democrats from within, and after he voted with the radical right to impeach Bill Clinton he finally left the Democratic Party and eventually the Republicans were able to get him to join them in return for a seat on the Appropriations Committee, the one where the most bribes and kickbacks flow.

And Goode quickly got down to business-- his own business of raking in the dough. The Irregular Times has all the details of Virgil's association with Wade and MZM (his #1 campaign contributor). Like Cunningham, DeLay, Abramoff, John Doolittle, Jerry Lewis, Bob Ney-- not to mention Richard "I'm not a crook" Nixon-- Goode feigns shock and outrage when he's confronted with his bribe-taking. So far he has avoided Cunningham's fate. But the investigation grinds on and it is widely expected that he will be indicted eventually. But decent citizens in the Southern Tier don't want to wait for the slow wheels on justice to rid them of their Goode problem. Diverse interests in the district have come together in a pretty unified fashion to back Al Weed as an excellent alternative to the execrably bad Goode.

A self-made man from a family that had to subsist on welfare after his father's military service, Al earned scholarships to Yale and Princeton and has had a successful career both as a farmer and as a diplomat. Unlike DCCC puppet candidates, who are advised ordered to avoid issues and positions, Al has one of the most extensive and thorough explanations of where he stands on all the important issues of the day on his website.



He comes across as a good government reformer, a clean-hands citizen who wants to clean up the mess being left by Goode and the other rubber-stamp Republicans. Goode's well-considered positions sound suitably progressive and filled with the common sense moderation one would expect from someone who has grown comfortable using his considerable intellect to move his life forward. Where Goode was wallowing in the filth and slime of Tom DeLay's Republican Culture of Corruption, I feel certain that Al Weed will be a patsy for no one being a rubber-stamp is not on his agenda either. I noticed today at MyDD that Al had endorsed Markey's Net Neutrality bill, like many of the savviest and most independent candidates, including several DWT is already helping to raise funds for, like Rick Penberthy (FL-05), Joe Sestak (PA-07), Jerry McNerney (CA-11), Coleen Rowley (MN-02), and of course, the progressive alternative to Bush's favorite Democrat (Lieberman), Ned Lamont. So I guess I should add Al to the ACT BLUE Page, right?

Last week what could have been a bruising primary battle was avoided after the Buckingham County Democratic Committee voted 114-73 to endorse Al and his opponent, Bern Ewart, withdrew and heartily endorsed him. Now's the time for everyone looking for a change of direction to come together and support great candidates like Al Weed who are willing to venture into the brutal political world inside the Beltway to try to make our country a better place. Last week respected New Jersey Republican, ex-Governor Tom Kean who got a close look at the Bush Regime when he served as head the 9-11 Commission, made a commencement address at my friend Andrew's niece's graduation from Skidmore. Kean had a lot to say but thinking about candidates like Al Weed brought to mind a juxtaposition Kean made between Plato and Bush. "Plato said, 'The penalty for not participating in government is to be governed by your inferiors.' Think about it. It may be happening." It certainly is-- and it isn't just Bush and Cheney. Crooked rubber-stamp Republicans like Virgil Goode, Jr. represent the very definition of inferior. Let's help Al Weed fix that great wrong.