C-Ville News and Arts writes:
Goode’s frustration toward the GOP was evident recently when he appeared as a keynote speaker at the Constitution Party’s Spring National Committee meeting in Minneapolis. On its official Web site, the Constitution Party says its main goal is to “restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries.” The party also supports a moratorium on legal immigration.
Some have speculated that Goode’s speech in Minnesota was the first step in a Fifth District run as an independent or third-party candidate, a claim he has denied.
However, the Second District candidate that he travelled to Gordonsville to support, Kenny Golden, recently dropped his GOP affiliation and has joined the independent ranks. Goode commended Golden for making the switch.
If one followed the party plan of the Republican Party of Virginia, enacted this past November, Goode has indeed disqualified himself as a member of the Republican Party.
The Party Plan unequivocally states that a Republican, as of June 2006, is defined as follows:
All legal and qualified voters under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, regardless of race, religion, national origin or sex, who are in accord with the principles of the Republican Party, and who, if requested, express in open meeting either orally or in writing as may be required their intent to support all of its nominees for public office in the ensuing election may participate as members of the Republican Party of Virginia in its mass meetings, party canvasses, conventions, or primaries encompassing their respective election districts.
Personally, I don’t think speaking before the Constitution Party as a keynote violates the intent of this rule, but is hosting a fundraiser for an independent candidate, such as Kenny Golden, one which pokes holes in Goode’s GOP bona fides? Does it even matter? Especially since Goode could only run for office as an independent, so why should he care about his Republican credentials?
On the other hand, 2nd District Candidate Scott Rigell is giving Democrats something to ponder – just how strong is Rigell’s affinity for the president?
According to a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee press release today, Rigell has gone from being an impish troublemaker in the Democratic primary for president to a full-throated admirer of President Obama’s rhetoric.
Donates to Obama but Doesn’t Support Obama. “In March 2008, during the Democratic presidential primary, he gave $1,000 to then-candidate Barack Obama. ‘I had never at any point wanted Barack Obama to be president. It was to stop Hillary Clinton,’ Rigell said.” [Virginian Pilot, 3/01/10]
President Obama Moved Me to Donate. According to conservative magazine Human Events, “On a local blog, Rigell responded by saying that, “Yes, I was moved by his rhetoric and by the prospect of seeing a minority rise to the highest office in our land.” [Human Events, 5/12/10]
Rigell, who was recently endorsed by Governor Bob McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, not to mention such other conservative luminaries as Jay Sekulow, Morton Blackwell, and Mike Farris, has seemed to be on the fast track to victory.
But will these criticisms of his party loyalty, despite his nearly 100% donation rate to the GOP, be enough to trip him up?
If fundraising for a friend – and longtime Republican – such as Kenny Golden, is enough for folks to want to kick Virgil Goode out of the party, is a $1000 check towards the president’s campaign and “being moved” by the president’s rhetoric enough to question Rigell’s conservative credos?
In other words, which is more important – a lifetime of work for a party or a few moments of disloyalty?
