Tom Perriello on GOTV:
Let me end just by making one thing very very clear. The outcome of this election has not been decided. It is not decided by the polls taken before Election Day. It is not decided by the pundits on television. This year more than any year in recent memory, no one even knows what a likely voter is. None of this stuff means anything. We don't know what the weather is going to be like that day. We don't know whats going happen when people pull that curtain in that booth. So between now and Election Day we should have one assumption on our mind, and that's this: Nothing has been decided, and we are dead even. Which means this election is in your hands. The candidates, trust me, we've done everything we can do. I can barely even walk now,...without a lot of caffeine. Its in your hands. This election will be decided by how many phone calls you make between now and 7PM Tuesday night. How many doors will you knock on. How many friends will you call and talk to. We have a chance to write a new chapter in America's history. We have a chance to write a new chapter in Virginia's history, but it does not write itself. It is written by all of us. So you have to leave here today asking the question: what are you prepared to do? What are you prepared to give in terms of time and talent and treasure so you don't wake up on November 5th wondering, what if I'd put in just a little bit more. We have that power to change history in our hands. Instead, lets wake up on November 5th knowing were at the new dawn in American history with a President-elect Barack Obama, a Senator-elect Mark Warner, and a Congressman elect like myself.
We have a candidate to celebrate and an incumbent to reject in VA-05. We can do this. You can help.
Goode Owes Taxpayers Explanation for Misuse of FundsOctober 31, 2008-Ivy, VA-Rep. Virgil Goode said he intended to "convene a meeting of his Danville staffers to investigate" the possible misuse of taxpayer funds in the promotion of an erotic film. Today, the Daily Progress reported that: "a brochure from Toronto's InsideOut gay and lesbian film festival in 2003 listed the taxpayer-funded fax machine in Goode's congressional office as a contact number for the gay-themed art house film 'Eden's Curve.'"
Rep. Goode's long-time press secretary, Linwood Duncan, resigned from his staff eight days before the election after reports surfaced that he had a speaking role in the film. Jerry Meadors, writer and director of the film and childhood friend of Mr. Duncan, has also left his position as artistic director of the North Theater, which Goode supported with a $150,000 earmark in 2003, around the same time the film was released. Rep. Goode has claimed he had no knowledge of the existence of the film, which was shot in Danville.
"Whether it's an erotic film or a sweetheart deal for MZM, citizens of the fifth district are getting sick and tired of reports of Congressman Goode misusing taxpayer funds," said Jessica Barba, communications director for the Perriello campaign. "The sudden departures of Mr. Duncan and Mr. Meadors from their positions raises even more questions and resembles a disturbing pattern of cronyism and cover-ups. Congressman Goode owes taxpayers an answer about how their dollars were used either in the production or promotion of this film."