On Tuesday, the State Board of Elections in Virginia handed
down their judgment in favor of allowing Virgil Goode’s name to appear on the
Nov. 6 presidential election ballot in the commonwealth[1]. Virgil Goode and his running mate, Gary
Johnson, are representing the Constitution Party, a party that some
commentators claim could take away votes from the Republican Party presidential
nominee, Mitt Romney.
According to Virginia’s political guru, Larry Sabato, Goode’s
name being added to the presidential ballot in Virginia “hurts Romney
disproportionately.”[2] As
such, the Virginia Republican Party attempted to block the Constitution Party’s
candidates from being added to the presidential ballot. So sad.
Sabato believes that Goode is not likely to get more than 1
percent of the vote in Virginia, but that 1 percent could be critically decisive. That is, this 1 percent could mean the
difference between a Mitt Romney win versus a Mitt Romney loss in Virginia.
After the board’s decision, Goode stated that “There were
some that just didn’t want us on the ballot – they didn’t want any third party
on the ballot (because of) the misconception that the Libertarian Party with
Gary Johnson, and myself running as the Constitution Party candidate, that we
would take votes from Romney.”[3]
Given the political views of Goode and Johnson, it would
seem logical to assume that if the Constitution Party candidates were to pull
from any of the two “big party” presidential names on the ballot, it would be
from Romney.
That said, if Romney were a more attractive presidential
candidate to conservatives in Virginia, Goode’s name on the presidential ballot
would arguably have a smaller impact. But the fact is, many conservatives in
Virginia don’t appear convinced that Romney is a true conservative. As
evidence, all one needs to do is look at Mitt Romney’s time as Governor of
Massachusetts[4].
Thus, if Romney loses in Virginia due to Goode’s presence on
the presidential ballot, then the former Massachusetts governor has only
himself to blame.
[1] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-politics/2012/sep/05/tdmain01-goode-qualifies-for-va-presidential-ballo-ar-2178494/
[2] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-politics/2012/sep/05/tdmain01-goode-qualifies-for-va-presidential-ballo-ar-2178494/
[3] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-politics/2012/sep/05/tdmain01-goode-qualifies-for-va-presidential-ballo-ar-2178494/
[4] http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/candidates/mitt-romney
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