Historian seeks to unseat Goode in ‘08

Bob Gibson / Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: July 1, 2007

Perfectly at home with the history of politics, David Shreve is trying to make history by unseating an incumbent congressman in a 5th District whose incumbents tend to swat away challengers with canny regularity.

Congressmen Dan Daniel of Danville, L.F. Payne of Nellysford and Virgil H. Goode Jr. of Rocky Mount won the last 21 elections in the sprawling 5th District without defeat.

Shreve, 46, plans to formally announce after this November's elections that he will challenge Goode, 60, in 2008 for the seat that the Democrat-turned-Republican congressman has held the past 10 years.

Shreve is one of at least three Democrats looking at a challenge to Goode. The others are Brydon Jackson, a former state trooper and current Chatham businessman, and Michael Shure, a progressive radio talk show host and University of Virginia graduate working in southern California.

Among the three, Shreve is the only candidate who has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and raised more than $5,000.

Nelson County vineyard owner Al Weed, who twice challenged Goode and lost by hefty margins in 2004 and 2006, rates Shreve, who has taught history at UVa and Louisiana State Univer-sity, as a serious contender.

"I've had my two shots," Weed said Friday, acknowledging he is not after a third crack at Goode. "I've talked a lot to Dave. I think he would make a strong Democratic candidate. I don't know that he appreciates how hard it would be."

A political historian and writer, Shreve said he realizes that a challenge would require a lot of hard work, a lot of party building and perhaps more than $1 million.

He disagrees with Goode about immigrants in this country and about economic and taxation issues in general.

"Where we differ is that he thinks - and he's dead wrong on this - that the immigrants have a kind of anti-American bent, that they are out to undercut, undermine American cultural norms," said Shreve, who once worked as an economic analyst for the Louisiana state legislature.

"In fact, one of the principle reasons many of the come here, aside from providing for their families, is because they do admire and respect what goes on here," the Democrat said.

As for tax policy, Goode supports President Bush's tax cuts for the very wealthy, Shreve said.

"I think the biggest difference between me and the incumbent congressman has to do with bread-and-butter issues, our recipes for what makes the country prosperous and what creates opportunities for people," he said. "Congressman Goode and his Republican allies say they are for low taxes, and it sounds good, but what they are really for is low taxes for the wealthy, the wealthiest among us, the privileged few."

The Bush tax policies run up federal deficits and force states and localities to provide more services with higher taxes, especially the unfair real estate property taxes, Shreve said.

"It's all connected and its driven largely by what happens at the federal level with tax policy there."

Goode had no comment Friday on Shreve's likely candidacy or positions on immigration and taxes.

"I'm sure there will some others looking at it too," Goode said. "I don't know all his stands but I will be reading what he has to say."

Goode said he is glad the Bush immigration reform package died on the Senate floor Thursday.

"I don't know that it's over," Goode said. "It's over for a while, but it will be an issue."