Virgil has lost his way

I dont believe Virgil Goode should be our next congressman because he has lost his way.

When Virgil first came on the scene, he had a lot of credibility to me, I appreciate an independent Democrat. I moved away, he switched parties, and then appeared to devolve into a patsy for Republican party. Virgil Goode has a lot of power from the pulpit of the Appropriations Committee. He receives some ridiculous amount of money from employees of MZM during his campaign, MZM's management is seeking a DOD contract to put a facility in Martinsville. DOD, MZM and Virgil know this is a redundant contract, but everybody wins in the scenario MZM dreams up. MZM gets the contract, Wade is indicted for bribery, so is the other guy present with Virgil at the opening of the facility in Martinsville and Virgil states (clearly not an exact quote)"I didnt know the employees of MZM were funnelling money to my campaign illegally". I wanted to believe, dont we all?

I have volunteered on Al's campaign, I know how hard the Director of Finance works to make sure all donations are on the up and up. The federal requirements for these donations are strict with little room for error. Sure campaigns make errors, small errors, miss a deadline by one or two days for example. Virgil's staff made a significant error in judgment if in fact they had no knowledge of the illegality of these donations.

What do we ask of people who make errors in judgment? Take responsibility, reform, admit wrongdoing and make it right.

What do we ask of people who commit crimes? Take responsibility, accept the punishment of the criminal justice system.

What does Virgil want us to do? Vote for him, um...NO! I dont want a congressman who makes such horrible errors in judgment or has staff around him who fail to question this sort of activity. Should I give him the benefit of the doubt? I understand some may, but since he has became a patsy of his party in Washington, he stopped being that independent thinker I found valuable. He is less credible because he has been in Washington so long surrounded by a culture that supports dishonesty at one end of the spectrum, and downright corrupt behavior at the other end.

Al Weed provides an honest, responsible alternative.