No TV debate for 5th candidates
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
By The Daily Progress Staff
Published: October 7, 2008
There will apparently be no televised debate in the 5th District congressional race between incumbent U.S. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-Rocky Mount, and challenger Democrat Tom Perriello of Ivy.
Goode and Perriello were originally scheduled to face off Tuesday night on NBC29. However, Goode pulled out a week earlier, saying he had never agreed to the debate. NBC29 said that Goode’s campaign had agreed to the debate on several occasions.
NBC29 officials had hoped to reschedule the debate, but Goode told the station that he intended to only participate in one more debate in Danville.
Goode and Perriello had previously met in one debate in Charlottesville and one in Danville. The televised debate would have exposed the candidates to a far larger audience than the previous debates.
Perriello held a news conference outside of NBC29 on Tuesday evening to criticize Goode’s decision not to attend. Goode — whose campaign has said he had a scheduling conflict — did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
The 5th District includes the city of Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene and Nelson and many more localities stretching down to Southside.
The election is Nov. 4.
Page 1 of 1
Post a Comment
The commenting period has ended or commenting has been deactivated for this article.
Can't find what you're looking for? Try our quick search:
Reader Reactions
Posted by ( Bean ) on October 08, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Mr. Goode’s refusal to participate in this debate is no surprise. Afterall, we may all see that his campaign ads directly misrepresent his opponent! His ads are an insult to my intellect. No surprise that he backed out of true representation.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( BigAl ) on October 08, 2008 at 8:18 am
Not surprising. Goode doesn’t come across well on TV. Plus, he’s in that territory where his seat is locked up unless one or more of three things happen: He gets caught with a dead girl, he gets caught with a live boy, or a Democratic legislature redistricts and un-does the work the Republicans did.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( cville ) on October 08, 2008 at 7:22 am
What a shame that Mr. Goode has backed out of the debate and now refuses to debate Tom Perriello!
It shows that time and time again, Mr. Goode puts his lobbyists before the people. Mr. Goode would rather spend time at a fundraiser with his special interest groups and big oil at fundraisers, rather than debate on issues like the economy in front of his voters.
I was looking forward to the debate and compare the two candidates side by side. I called his office asking if there was going to be another debate. Their answer, “Mr. Goode doesn’t need to debate Tom Perriello, he has nothing to win out of it.“ I encourage you to call his office and see if you get the same answer -(540) 483-9030.
Mr. Goode may think he has nothing to win, but there is one thing he won’t win on Nov 4th, and that is my vote. I will vote for the candidate who is not afraid to talk to people in these times of trouble with true solutions. Tom Perriello is the right candidate for Virginia’s 5th district.
Report Inappropriate Comment