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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== (詳細はRichmond, Virginia in 1946. He served six years in the Army National Guard, and after graduating from law school, began his political career.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=GOODE, Virgil H., Jr. – Biographical Information )〕 As an independent and advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment, he won a special election to the Senate of Virginia in 1973. After the election, he joined the Democratic Party and gained a reputation as a supporter of collective bargaining rights, fiscal conservatism, gun rights, and the tobacco industry. During his tenure, he notably nominated L. Douglas Wilder for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 1985, and backed Wilder's successful 1989 campaign for Governor of Virginia, which enabled Wilder to become the first elected African American governor of any U.S. state. Goode ran for U.S. Senate in 1982, but lost in the Democratic primary.〔 In the 1990s, his relationship with the Democratic Party weakened, particularly after waging a primary challenge against incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Chuck Robb in 1994, and forcing state Senate Democrats to accept a power sharing agreement with Republicans in 1996.〔 In 1996, Goode won election to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat for Virginia's 5th district, which included the towns of Martinsville, Danville, Charlottesville, and Timberlake. After being re-elected in 1998, Goode damaged relations with his party further after supporting three of the four articles of impeachment against Democratic President Bill Clinton. Shortly thereafter, Goode left the Democratic Party, and once again became an independent.〔 As an independent, 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 Keith Ellison, the first Muslim Representative. Upon hearing that Ellison planned to be sworn in on a Qur'an, Goode wrote a controversial letter in which he argued, "If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran."〔 Several members of Congress asked Goode to apologize, but he stood by the letter. Throughout his time in Congress, Goode consistently voted to restrict immigration, 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 also participated in the libertarian-leaning Liberty Caucus,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Virgil Goode on the Issues )〕 and donated to the 2008 presidential campaigns of fellow caucus members Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Virgil Goode's federal campaign contributions )〕 Goode faced a difficult battle for re-election in 2008 against Democratic candidate Tom Perriello. In the end, Goode lost the election by 727 votes.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=November 2008 Unofficial Results )〕 In early 2009, Goode filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to form a campaign to regain his former congressional seat in the 2010 election, but he ultimately decided not to run. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Virgil Goode presidential campaign, 2012」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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