"DANVILLE - As he tries to move into the fast lane of Southside politics, Nelson County resident Al Weed is, running in a four-cylinder hatchback, compared with Republican Rep. Virgil H, Goode Jr.'s V-8 convertible.

But Weed, a Democratic activist, refuses to be discouraged, even when acknowledging he's eating Goode's dust, a position he has some familiarity with, having unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the 25th District state Senate seat in 1995 and 2001. The late Emily Couric soundly defeated him in the first race, and Sen. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County won the seat in the second.

Weed spent Tuesday in Danville introducing himself to people and trying to garner early support of his bid to win the Democratic nomination for the 5th District congressional seat.

He likely will face a stiff challenge from Charlottesville City Councilor Meredith Richards, the party's nominee in the 2002 election. Richards garnered 36 percent of the vote against Goode in 2002 and has indicated she will run next year.

"When I began my campaign n 2002, 1 said publicly that it was he beginning of a two-election process for unseating Virgil bode," she said Tuesday. "Many of the people who worked on my campaign did so in the expectation that I would be running again in 2004 and build upon our hard-fought gains."

But Weed respectfully suggested that a new face is needed to take on Goode, a four-term incumbent who has carried between 60 percent and 70 percent of the vote in his last two elections.

"She's run in this district before, she knows where the Democratic strengths are," Weed said of Richards. "On the other hand, I bring a different perspective from what she brings. I have a rural perspective. I'm close to the city of Charlottesville ... I've been involved in a lot of things in the city and region. But Meredith has never turned a bit of soil on a farm that I'm aware of, and I think having some sort of rural connection would be very important."

Though his campaign hasn't officially begun, Weed already is learning the rigors of the campaign trail.

He left his Lovingston home about 5:30 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m., meeting with Danville Democratic activists.

He then hopscotched over to WILA for a short radio interview before heading to Danville Community College to chat with Danville City Councilor Pete Castiglione.

Then he was off to meet any other activists and officials open to his message of progressive taxation, better benefits for veterans and fixing America's "broken" health care system.

While eating breakfast with a dozen political enthusiasts at the Stratford Inn, he answered questions on topics ranging from race relations to the federal budget.

Having retired last year from the U.S. Army Reserves, he served in the Green Berets in 1965-1966. Weed displayed intense passion when the topic of medical care for veterans was raised.

One woman then spun the political dial by asking Weed for his thoughts on affirmative action.

He replied that affirmative action should be based on economics rather than race, an answer he repeated later on WILA.

"Until we have a system that funds schools fairly ... we cannot leave behind affirmative action," he said. "It's important that we understand we're all in this together. We need to restore the sense of community and caring for the least well-off of us."

Weed, the founder and owner of Mountain Cove Vineyards, concedes he has much to learn about politics, but displays the enthusiasm and idealism deemed ideal in good government circles.

"I have always had a desire to do something in public politics from a public service point of view," he said in an interview. " I don't have a lot of political ambitions per se."

He has worked in the wood processing industry, in the accounting industry, and once served at the World Bank.

As a candidate in 1995, Weed advocated rural preservation and strong gun-control measures.

Although a fight for the nomination is brewing, University of Virginia political scientist Larry J. Sabato suggested it is a worthless prize.

"What the Democrats have a difficult time focusing on is just how strong Virgil is in the southern end of the district," he said. "The vote totals are massive in his direction. That means, given the structure of the district, you would have to have vote totals just as massive, in the other direction, in the entire northern end of the district. That isn't going to happen. Virgil did well in Albemarle County, surrounding Charlottesville, when the Democrats had a Charlottesville candidate."

However, Goode isn't taking anything for granted.

"I'll have a tough fight regardless of who gets the nomination, whether it's Mrs. Richards or [Al Weed] or someone else," he said. (George Whitehurst, The Daily Progress, April 9, 2003).