The Virgil Goode presidential campaign of 2012 began when former U.S. Congressman Virgil Goode of Virginia announced his decision to seek the 2012 presidential nomination of the Constitution Party in February 2012. During the nomination campaign, he put forth a four-point plank that included his plans to restrict immigration, balance the federal budget, decrease the size of government, and institute congressional term limits.
After winning the Constitution Party's presidential nomination on the first ballot at the party's April 2012 national convention, Goode chose outgoing party chairman Jim Clymer as his running mate. The ticket coordinated ballot access efforts to add to the 16 states on which they had already qualified. Goode focused on his home state of Virginia, where polls showed the ticket with five to nine percent support.
During the general election campaign, Goode participated in numerous media interviews and debated other third-party candidates. He continuously faced criticism that his campaign would act as a "spoiler", taking votes from presumptive Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney and helping President Barack Obama win re-election. In response, Goode argued he was in the race to win and would take votes away from both candidates. By discussing alternative solutions, restricting individual campaign donations to $200 and not accepting money from Political Action Committees, Goode cast himself as a grassroots "average citizen" that offered a distinct choice for voters outside of "Tweedledum and Tweedledee".
On Election Day, Goode appeared on 26 state ballots and was a write-in in an additional 18 states. He finished in fifth place with 122,001 votes for 0.09% of the total popular vote.
Background
Before the 2012 election cycle, Virgil Goode, a Virginia native, had an extensive political career spanning four decades and three political affiliations. His career began in 1973, when, after serving in the Army National Guard and graduating from law school, he won a special election to the Senate of Virginia as an independent on a platform advocating the Equal Rights Amendment. Later joining the Democratic Party, Goode gained a reputation in the Virginia Senate as a proponent of collective bargaining rights, fiscal conservatism, gun rights, and the tobacco industry. Notably, while in office, he nominated L. Douglas Wilder for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and in 1989, backed Wilder's historic campaign for Governor of Virginia, which resulted in Wilder becoming the first elected African American governor of any U.S. state. Seeking higher office himself, Goode twice ran for U.S. Senate (in 1982 and 1994), losing in the Democratic primary both times. He elevated to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 upon his election as a Democrat to represent Virginia's 5th district. After being re-elected in 1998, Goode damaged relations with his party after supporting three of the four articles of impeachment against Democratic President Bill Clinton. Goode left the Democratic Party shortly thereafter, and once again became an independent.
As an independent in the House, Goode caucused with Republicans and was given a spot on the Appropriations Committee. He was re-elected to his congressional seat in 2000 as an independent, and before the 2002 election, he officially joined the Republican Party. After winning re-election in 2002, he was re-elected twice more as a Republican in 2004 and 2006. The 2006 election also saw the election of Democrat Keith Ellison, the first Muslim Representative. Upon hearing that Ellison planned to be sworn in on a Qur'an, Goode drew the ire of some of his House colleagues with a controversial letter describing the election of Muslims as an adverse effect of immigration policy. Throughout his time in Congress, Goode consistently voted to restrict immigration. In addition, he regularly voted against free trade agreements, and received a 100 percent approval rating from the National Right to Life Committee. He voted to authorize the War in Iraq, supported the USA PATRIOT Act, approved the Bush Tax Cuts, and voted against both the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the General Motors and Chrysler bailouts. Goode participated in the libertarian-leaning Liberty Caucus, and donated to the 2008 presidential campaigns of fellow caucus members Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo. Facing a difficult battle for re-election in 2008, Goode lost his House seat to Democrat Tom Perriello by 727 votes. Initially, Goode filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to regain his seat in 2010, but he ultimately decided not to run.
Early stages Immediately following Goode's 2008 congressional loss, the Independent Political Report reported that sources within the Constitution Party speculated Goode would join their party and seek their 2012 presidential nomination. Over the next two years, he expressed interest in the party. In June 2009, he spoke at the Constitution Party's National Committee meeting, and was the keynote speaker at the May 2010 meeting. At the latter meeting, he paid the party's $35 dues and officially joined. Despite this, he remained a member of Republican Party as well and continued to pay dues to the Franklin County GOP. However, he later told The Daily Progress that his views were in greater accord with the Constitution Party on such issues as support for Arizona SB 1070 and opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Shortly after joining, Goode moved up in the Constitution Party ranks. Party founder and Virginia chairman Howard Phillips named him to the National Committee in 2010, and in November of that year, National Committee Chairman Jim Clymer appointed him to the party's executive committee. The moves encouraged rumors that he was considering a 2012 presidential run. Such speculation continued in 2011, as Goode increased his visibility in paleoconservative circles. He participated in a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) panel arguing against both illegal and legal immigration, and wrote an article for The American Conservative opposing the passage of the South Korea–United States Free Trade Agreement. In April 2011, after Goode delivered a speech at a Constitution Party meeting, the Constitution Party National Committee unanimously passed a resolution asking him to seek their presidential nomination. In a press release, the party said that he had "expressed a strong interest" in the nomination. Thereafter, Goode told The Roanoke Times that he would "consider it as the year progresses". Clymer informed the publication that "There's nothing that I can see now that would prevent him from getting the nomination were he to say he indeed wants it."
In reaction to the possibility, Goode's 2008 congressional campaign manager Tucker Watkins said Goode would be an upgrade from the Constitution Party's 2008 nominee Chuck Baldwin, who appeared on 37 state ballots and won 0.15 percent of the popular vote. However, Watkins admitted that he "can't imagine [Goode] flying all over the country". Madison Marye, who served with Goode in the Virginia Senate, felt it was likely Goode would run "because of his love for politics", and described him as a "political animal" that could energize a crowd. Hollins University political science professor Ed Lynch lauded Goode's potential appeal to the Tea Party movement and his "personal conversation" style but argued that his public speaking ability and strong Old Virginia accent could hurt his chances with the American audience. Political strategist David Saunders speculated that if Goode chose to run, he would take votes away from the Republicans in Virginia and possibly sway the state to the Democrats.
In November 2011, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal covered a speech Goode delivered to the Lancaster County Constitution Party and noted that though he had yet to announce, he "sounded like a candidate". He discussed plans to cut government spending to the Department of Education, defense, and foreign aid; continued arguments against free trade agreements and immigration; and added his support for term limits in Congress. When asked about a presidential run, Goode commented, "I'll let people know [about a run] next year, by January or February.... We've got sure disaster with Obama, and it's only prolonged a little with the Republicans. But tough choices have to be made. The Constitution Party offers the best choice out there."
Nomination campaign On February 10, 2012, Goode's wife and campaign treasurer Lucy filed papers with the Federal Election Commission for Goode to seek the Constitution Party's 2012 presidential nomination. After the FEC received and posted the documents on their website four days later, the media reported on the update. The next day, Goode set up a campaign website and informed the press he would formally announce his candidacy on February 21 in front of Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City.
During his announcement, Goode noted that Federal Hall was where George Washington was sworn in as the first president in 1789. He listed the four planks of his platform including the return to limited government, which he asserted as forming the basis under which Washington and others founded the nation. In his call for a balanced federal budget, he argued, "we cannot wait five to ten years in the future to have a balanced budget; we must do that now." Moreover, he reaffirmed his plans to stop illegal immigration and reduce legal immigration, and again referenced Washington and the early congress in his endorsement for congressional term limits. On the same day as the announcement, Josh Krasuhaar of The Atlantic wrote an article describing Goode as the "prototype" of a successful third-party candidate. Though Krasuhaar conceded Goode's chances were slim, he argued that Goode as a populist, "would have the potential to get support from a swath of voters who would see both President Obama and Mitt Romney as elites disconnected from the concerns of working-class Americans".
In the days following the announcement, Goode received little media attention. However, he was featured in a Richmond Times Dispatch article referring to him as "Mr. Independent", and Wikinews published an interview with him in which he discussed his support for the Keystone Pipeline.
Ahead of the National Convention, Goode participated in a U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan-sponsored debate on March 31 with fellow Constitution Party candidates Robby Wells, Susan Ducey, and Laurie Roth. In an interview with The Roanoke Times after the debate, Goode judged the upcoming nomination as "a wide open affair [that] could go to any of the candidates". The Constitution Party chairman of Virginia Mitch Turner observed that Goode had an advantage over the other candidates as a former federal officeholder, but held the experience could also be construed as a disadvantage since purist party members might oppose him due to his votes in favor of military interventions and the USA PATRIOT Act.
National convention The 2012 Constitution Party National Convention was held April 18–21 in Nashville, Tennessee. Just prior to the nomination, 2008 vice presidential nominee Darrell Castle decided to enter the race, saying several convention delegates had urged him to run. Despite this, Goode was still able to win the nomination on the first ballot with 203 delegates. Castle came in second with 120, followed by Wells with 58, Ducey with 15, and Roth with 6. Goode became the party's first presidential nominee to have held elected office in the federal government.