"Democrat Al Weed of Nelson County won his second straight nomination for Congress on Saturday, capturing the right to again challenge 5th District Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-Rocky Mount, on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Weed won 61 percent of the delegates to the 5th District nominating convention as 114 delegates backed him to 73 for congressional hopeful Bern Ewert of Charlottesville, who sounded a gracious note as he endorsed Weed immediately after the vote was announced.

Goode won 64 percent of the votes in the 2004 election to 36 percent for Weed, who acknowledged as he accepted the nomination that beating Goode this year will not be easy.

“This will be a tough and trying six months,” Weed told the crowd that gathered for three hours inside the air-conditioned auditorium of Buckingham County High School.

He called Goode “an institution to many” but suggested that many voters know Goode’s face better than his record.

“We know the Virgil who shakes our hands on the street corners, but do we know the Mr. Goode who votes to give the president a blank check to fight a misguided war in Iraq?” Weed asked. “We know the Virgil who seems concerned about growing unemployment numbers, but do we know the Mr. Goode who took campaign contributions from a convicted felon?”

Ewert had waged an aggressive campaign for the nomination through the convention, even distributing literature Saturday that was headlined, “Changing Your Mind is not Unethical,” aimed at getting committed Weed delegates to break their signed pledges of support.

One Ewert flier stated, “In 2004, Virgil Goode beat Al Weed like a drum,” while another asserted, “We know two things for sure: Al Weed has already been beaten badly by Virgil Goode. It is not unethical to change your mind.”

Ewert and Weed each tattooed Goode in their remarks before the balloting and U.S. Senate hopefuls Harris Miller and James Webb tossed verbal volleys at President Bush and U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Fairfax County, during the vote count.

Ewert called his nomination battle with Weed “the most competitive campaign in recent memory, and it’s been good for us.”

“We now have an opportunity to change the direction of America from a culture of corruption to a government we are again proud of,” Ewert said in a speech that won high marks from supporters of both candidates, including Charlottesville Weed backers Nancy O’Brien and Virginia Germino.

O’Brien, a former mayor, called Weed a good candidate and added, “I think it’s time for a change. Throw the rascals out.”

Fundraising

Weed, who turns 64 on Tuesday, said he has been running for Congress for three straight years now and, “Friends, I’m ready. My campaign and I are working hard, and in the first quarter [of 2006] we raised more money than Mr. Goode.”

During that time, Weed raised $65,333 to Goode’s $53,461. Goode, however, had $466,110 in cash on hand at the end of March, while Weed has raised about $120,000 to date.

Reached by telephone Saturday evening, Goode said that Weed “worked hard” as a candidate for the nomination and covered a lot of territory. “I know he will be a formidable opponent this November,” Goode said.

Priorities

A more familiar figure around the 5th than he was two years ago, Weed said the district is ready for a change.

“As your candidate, I will not shrink from speaking up for the working poor,” he said. “I support a living wage for all Americans. And, I support universal access to decent health care. Caring for the least of our fellow men is not only the legacy of our party, but it is Jesus’ call to us as human beings.”

Weed promised to support women’s reproductive rights, but not to turn away those who “truly believe that abortion is a moral failing.” He pledged to “stand up for the freedoms that Bush and his Republican Party are trying to take away. I wore this nation’s uniform too long to sit on my hands and let the Republican-led Congress sleep while Mr. Bush nullifies key portions of over 750 laws as he signs them.”

“Republicans and Mr. Goode continue to bow to corporate interests,” Weed said. “I pledge never to accept questionable contributions, and I pledge never to put the goals of the special interests or lobbyists ahead of improving the lives of the people in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.

“The Republicans and Mr. Goode insist we are succeeding in Iraq,” Weed said. “But the rest of us see the truth.”

Shape of the race

Some of the harshest rhetoric about Goode came from 5th District Democratic Chairman Fred Hudson of Free Union, who, referring to the Democrat-turned-Republican, urged Democrats to unite and “commit to sending that turncoat, knuckle-dragging Neanderthal back to Rocky Mount.”

Miller and Webb, who face off in a June 13 primary for the right to challenge Allen for the Senate, spent their time attacking Allen and Bush instead of each other.

“I will not be a rubber stamp for the Iraqi policies of George Bush as George Allen has been,” Miller said. After losing more than 2,400 American lives, the Republicans guiding the war still lack an exit strategy, he said.

Republican “tracker” Matt Pinsker, a College of William and Mary student who said he is paid by the Republican Party of Virginia, used a small hand-held camera to capture video of Democrats as they spoke Saturday.

Webb told the Democrats that Allen cannot hide a six-year record of supporting Bush 97 percent of the time.

A former Republican who served as Navy secretary under President Reagan, Webb said he could bring many former Democrats and independent voters fed up with special-interest-led government to the Democratic column this year.

Former Del. James B. Murray of Earlysville attended the convention as a Weed delegate and left saying that he thinks Webb “has got a good chance” of upsetting Allen.

Murray lost to Allen by 25 votes in 1982 in the Republican’s first election victory.

Murray said Webb is “riding the wave of discontent [with Bush] sweeping the nation.” (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, May 21, 2006)