Morgan Griffith makes it official: He’s running for Congress
The Roanoke Times
State Del. Morgan Griffith’s campaign for Congress became official this morning when the Salem Republican filed as a candidate for the GOP nomination in the 9th Congressional District.
Category: Campaigns and Elections
About Ward Smythe: Ward Smythe is a pseudonymous aspiring freelance writer from Central Virginia. Until late 2007 Ward blogged at the now defunct "Ward View" and was active in Virginia and national politics. Ward's signature style of snarkery gained him a unique following that he hopes to regain here at Bearing Drift. Ward uses humor, satire and sometimes photoshop to make his point. Ward is proud to be an equal opportunity offender. View author profile.
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All we needs some yankee no-gooder. I’d rather keep Rick
Trident, do you even know Morgan Griffith – the Majority Leader in the Virginia House of Delegates?
Lynn, I think that Trident is alluding to the fact that Del. Griffith was born in Philadelphia, while Rep. Boucher is a native of the 9th district (born in Washington County).
Carpetbagger is coming down to show you guys how the civilized people roll in the Roanoke Valley.
Republicans need to remember that Griffth lives in Salem, VA not Salem, Mass. He’s spent virtually his entire life either in or just outside the 9th CD.
I think that local candidates like Adam Light, Dave Moore, and Jesse Ring would be a refreshing start for the Republicans, I know Griffith has a past in politics but I’m tired of that, I don’t care how much money one can raise. I care about how much better the candidate speaks to the hearts of its constituents. We need ill experienced candidates who are not motivated by the check but rather by the call of duty.
9th, Morgan is certainly not motivated by the check. He has a very secure position and could easily have sat on his laurels in the HoD and let Boucher continue to help President Obama drive the 9th district into a ditch.
It is going to be extraordinarily difficult to unseat Boucher but Morgan’s legislative and campaign experience make it a little bit easier than it would be for someone who has never run for office before. Further, you should care about how much money a candidate can raise because it is impossible to spread your message to all corners of a District as large as the 9th without it.
I believe that once the voters of the 9th have the opportunity to meet, speak with and listen to Morgan Griffith they will discover that he speaks to their concerns and shares their values much more than their current representative.
Morgan’s a fun guy. He’s one of the few members of the House with enough intelligence to realize how ridiculous they sometimes make themselves look.
But, Chris? Campaign experience? When was his last tough race?
Steve
As Majority Leader, Morgan has been involved in tough campaigns in every corner of the state. Also, he’s battle tested from his years in Richmond. Heck, just dealing with Dickie although those years gives him the type of scars you need to take on someone like Boucher.
Furthermore, if only close races count as campaign experience, then Boucher is no more experienced than Morgan.
As for the other local guys, I’m sure they’re wonderful but they have zero chance of beating Boucher.
I seem to remember hearing Will Morefield would never pull the seat in the 3rd District as well…
Greg,
I have to take issue with your last sentence. I think Terry Kilgore would have had a much better shot. There’s a part of the 9th where the Kilgores can do no wrong. And they’re liked in most of the rest.
Steve, I think Greg was talking about the other current candidates in the race for the nomination. I think we can all agree that Terry Kilgore also would have been a formidable candidate, but since he decided not to run and has expressed support for Morgan, I think it is time for the GOP to rally around the candidate who has the best chance of defeating Boucher.
Steve
Of course I wasn’t talking about Kilgore (or Wampler). I was talking about the declared candidates. Speaking bluntly, if one of those 2 would’ve stepped up to battle Boucher we wouldn’t be where we are now. They did not though and elected and grassroots leaders reached out to Morgan knowing he was the best man for the job. Thankfully, Morgan isn’t one to back down from a fight. In the end, Boucher will be very tough to beat but if people in the 9th will get on board and fight as hard as Morgan will (which I fully expect), we have a real shot.
MG is not doing this for the people of the 9th, hell, he doesn’t live here. He’s doing it for his own ego and his party. That’s the problem with MG, his allegiance is to the party first, himself second, and then the constituents. He’s emblematic of what’s wrong with politics/government today. Your argument again RB is that he’s too much of a party guy. Now, you want to replace him with someone who’s nothing but a party guy. My party is better than your party…blah, blah, blah. When will people grow up and start demanding real leadership, not party hacks?
I somewhat agree Harrison, and again this would be a great opportunity for the GOP to look at some of the other candidates looking for the nomination.(Adam Light, Dave Moore, and Jesse Ring)A great thing is the nomination is still up for grabs anyone who can agree with the GOP’s creed can vote as a Delegate on May 22nd 2010 as long as they submit appropriate documents to their local Republican Unit. http://www.va9gop.org
Harrison’s charge that Griffith is a party-first guy hits the mark. You can’t look at his record and have any question about that.