While winding my way home from Saratoga Springs this morning I was surprised to get word that Virgil Goode won’t be challenging Rep. Tom Perriello. (Or, parsing his words strictly, he won’t be seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Perriello.) This ought to result in a quick flood of folks announcing their candidacy for the nomination. I’m inclined to think that this is a bad thing for Democrats. Goode was one of those bizarre incumbents whose reelection is just inexplicable to folks outside of the district (and many within)—I can’t see that he’d have a shot at regaining his old seat now that he’s lost the power of incumbency.
Other than the random guy who’s already tossed his hat into the ring—nobody takes him seriously, and justifiably so—nobody’s running just yet, but a few people are floating their names. We ought to see a rush of folks wanting to occupy that first-mover position, unless somebody with some real clout steps up first and scares the others off. Delegate Rob Bell, by virtue of the huge pile of cash that he’s sitting on, fits the bill, though he says he’s not interested. I think Sen. Bob Hurt is also in a position to clear the field. Cordel Faulk and Ken Boyd, not so much.
Actually don’t think that having lost by a pretty narrow margin that Goode’s lack of incumbency is a death knell for him. I think he has other reasons why he’s not running (besides thinking he couldn’t win).
Goode could simply use the same strategy as McDonnell (citing a lot of unpopular Democratic Congress proposals and recently enacted measures). And it would even be more plausible as it is a federal post unlike the VA Gov. McDonnell apparently has cut into a large chunk of those I-voters. I don’t see why Goode couldn’t do the same.
Bell’s $500,000 is not easily transferable to a federal race. He could launder it through some other committees, but he couldn’t just write a check from his state account to a federal campaign account.