WITH THE economy in a serious recession and our nation on the brink of war, the University has an important choice to make this November. The faculty, the students and the staff who live and vote in the fifth district, of which this great institution is a part, must decide who they want as their representative in Congress for the next two years.
The choice is between incumbent Congressman Virgil Goode, a man who has represented this district since 1996 and has been reelected each year by overwhelming majorities, and Meredith Richards, a member of City Council in Charlottesville and vice mayor of Charlottesville. A key factor in this election is the fact that Goode is running for Congress as a Republican for the first time.
Goode made his switch to the Republican party official this year. He has a long reputation of being a lawmaker who is bipartisan and will cross boundaries. While in the Virginia State Senate, Goode exemplified bipartisanship throughout his career. When the Republicans tied the Democrats in the Senate 20 to 20 during the 1996 General Assembly session, Goode decided to vote to evenly split the committee assignments and chairmanships in order to represent the Senate accurately, even though his Democratic Party held the tie-breaking vote in Lt. Gov. Don Beyer and could have demanded the majorities on every committee. This gracious move of fairness to the voters of Virginia will forever exemplify his respect for justice.
Goode is the candidate of moderation and bipartisanship. His long record of working with members of both parties in the State Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives contrasts with Richards' experience of working with Charlottesville City Council, which was entirely Democratic until this May when Rob Schilling became the first Republican elected to Charlottesville's City Council since 1986. She has absolutely no experience with working within a system where both parties are relatively equal and where she must cater to the interests of all people, not just a small liberal city of 40,000 people. Functioning in an almost evenly split House of Representatives requires the ability to cross the aisle and work with members of the opposing party. Unfortunately, Richards has never even had the opportunity to learn to build consensus.
Goode is a man who understands the interests and needs of both the Democratic and the Republican parties. As someone who served as a Democratic State Senator for 22 years and a Democratic Congressman for four years, Goode understands the intricate nature of the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party which he only joined this year. The fact that he switched parties is not a mark against him. Instead, it is something for which to admire him. The primary reason for his switch of parties is the fact that he voted to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998, one of only five Democrats who chose to go against Democratic party orders. No matter what your opinion on the issue of Clinton's impeachment, there is no doubt that Goode voted his conscience in making that courageous decision. It cost him the respect of the political hacks of the political party of which he had been a member for three decades.
Goode's career has been marked by a willingness to be thoughtful and deliberate in taking his stance on issues. Instead of ignoring his constituency, he has always been very sensitive to the cares and concerns of the people he represents. As a Democratic elected official, his service was always distinguished by moderate stances with which the majority of Virginians could relate. This has continued into his time with the Republican Party.
Congressman Goode promotes a populist, commonsense approach to the issues. He refuses to conform to anyone's voting orders. His opposition to the estate tax and hate crime laws provide contrast with his support of the death penalty and protectionist policies to keep factories and businesses in Southern Virginia. These diverse positions are combined with a strong sense that limited government is the most healthy way to produce an efficient, manageable bureaucracy that defends the rights of Americans.
Congressman Goode is the right man for this job. His re-election on Nov. 5 will be much more valuable to this community and this University because he is a member of the party that is in the majority and will still be in the majority in the House of Representatives. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, he provides direct access to federal grants for University research programs. Most importantly, Congressman Goode is an honest and decent man who will never betray the trust of the fifth district of Virginia and our beloved University.
(Benjamin Beliles is Chairman of the College
Republicans.)
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