This information coming to you via Raw Story.
Yesterday on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Maddow explained how a third party candidate on the ballot in Virginia, could cost Mitt Romney the Presidency. The name of this relatively unknown person is Virgil Goode, Jr. a former Republican Congressman.
Virginia didn’t even have a Republican primary election this year. Getting on the ballot in Virginia requires meeting a fairly stringent set of requirements. Of the 6 candidates who ran in the GOP primary, only Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) were actually on the Virginia ballot.
One person who did make it on to the ballot for the general election in November, however, is the hard-right Constitution Party candidate and former Republican congressman Rep. Virgil Goode, Jr. (VA). Goode has been a Democrat and Republican, but in this election cycle has cast himself as an ultra-conservative alternative to Mitt Romney.
According to Maddow, this is the last thing that Romney wants to see on the ballot in that state. Salon writer Steve Kornacki joined Maddow to discuss how Goode stands a good chance of acting as a spoiler for Romney in the Commonwealth by siphoning away Tea Party and other far-right voters, and thereby throwing the election by denying the former governor of the number of electoral votes by a wide margin.
http://www.rawstory.com/...
Virginia Republicans are trying to get Goode’s name taken off of the ballot. As the Washington Post reports (I got the actual quote from Democratic Underground, which cited Washington Post):
“Congressman Goode is on the ballot, and his name was drawn to occupy the third position on the presidential ballot,” said Virginia election board spokeswoman Nikki Sheridan. “The allegations of petition fraud against the Constitution Party have been forwarded to the office of the attorney general for investigation.”
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s office declined to comment on the status of the probe, but Virginia Republicans made clear Tuesday that the issue is far from settled.
“Even before our letter, the attorney general was conducting a criminal investigation into issues with Mr. Goode’s petitions,” said Virginia GOP chairman Pat Mullins.
“We have simply reported to the SBE additional systemic problems that warrant review. These problems display, at best, a stunning disregard for Virginia law. Mr. Goode owes the citizens of Virginia an explanation about the irregularities in his petitions.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
See the clip from Rachel Maddow here:
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