Journals Say Goode is Likely to be Re Elected

For all those who are following the hot race between Tom Pierello (D) and Virgil Goode (R), how legitimate and how credulous are these journals???? Post comments. TJM

JOURNALS: GOODE RE-ELECTION LIKELY

By Bernard Baker
Danville Register Bee

Three major political journals have slightly downgraded their forecast for U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode’s re-election, but still give him an edge.

Congressional Quarterly, the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball now say voters are “likely” to re-elect Goode, R, 5th. All three moved the race for Goode from “safe,” down one level to “likely.”

Sabato, who heads the University Center for Politics, said they look at district’s demographics and voting record (which favors Republicans), the overall climate for 2008 (which favors Democrats), and the nature of the challenge to the incumbent.

“In this case, the Democrat is raising a lot of money and has strong national party support (both pluses), while he has never held any public office and is unknown in much of the district (both minuses),” Sabato said. “An upset cannot be ruled out, but the incumbent is given the edge in this set of circumstances. The size of the edge is yet to be determined. I think this probably summarizes all the ratings, no matter the source.”

The Perriello campaign announced that it has raised about $900,000 for the race, they say this is one sign they are moving in the right direction. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also supporting the campaign by naming it as an “Emerging Race” this year.

“It’s great to see the pundits recognizing what we’ve known all along: That the working families of the Virginia Fifth District are ready for a new leader who will fight for them in Washington,” Perriello said. “This race is receiving national attention because voters are responding to our positive agenda of job growth and work force development, relief at the pump and responsible solutions to the crisis in Iraq.”

Goode campaign manager Tucker Watkins dismissed the news. He said Goode has a proven track record and Perriello could never reach Goode in his ability to help the district. He added that Perriello is the most liberal Democrat to take on Goode — more liberal than John Boyd, Meredith Richards or Al Weed.

Goode has raised about $580,000 since May 21 and has $621,152 in unspent funds. Watkins did not know how much money Goode raised for the last campaign cycle, which ended last week.

Perriello kicks off a month-long economic tour beginning Monday where he plans to talk about his plan for Southside economic relief.

The tour will look into economic relief for working families of Southside Virginia. Perriello will visit every county and municipality in the district, meeting with workers, business leaders and the unemployed, in July.

Perriello will have lunch with United Steel Workers Local 831 in Providence, N.C. to discuss issues at the union hall at 1 p.m.

Contact Bernard Baker at bbaker@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7986.