Goode supports immigration limits, cutting defense budget
SALEM – There were no Secret Service agents guarding him when Constitution Presidential candidate Virgil Goode spoke to the Salem Rotary Club on May 10, and he admitted he has little chance to win the presidency.
But those realities aren’t keeping the Rocky Mount resident who was nominated April 21 from giving his all to the race.
Constitution Party Presidential Candidate Virgil Goode of Rocky Mount, left, shares a light moment with Judge Steven Agee of Salem, a federal judge on the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, before the May 10 meeting of the Salem Rotary Club where Goode spoke. Agee and Goode served in the Virginia General Assembly together. Photo by Meg Hibbert
Goode, who was selected as one of the top 10 most conservative recent Congressmen, was known in his previous campaigns for handing out campaign pencils.
“I won’t have any this year,” he told the Rotarians. “They’re too costly.”
Goode emphasized the need for a balanced national budget sooner than other candidates are proposing, and said the nation must cut back on such expenditures as services to the poor.
“Food Stamps have almost doubled. We’ve got to cut out free cell phones” to welfare recipients, Goode said.
He pledged he will not accept contributions from political action committees – PACs – and said he would accept campaign donations only up to $200.
“When I was in the House of Representatives, I was guilty of this, focusing on the next fundraiser. I may not get elected, but if so, that’s the way to travel, with $200 maximum donations.”
Goode also said if elected, he would serve only one term as president. Goode served 24 years in the Virginia Senate, and was elected to Congress for six terms. He was a Democrat when first elected, then joined the Republican party and later became an independent. Goode is said to be the first presidential nominee for the Constitution Party who held a federal elected office.
He is on the ballot for November’s presidential election in 15 states.
He emphasized that America needs to secure its borders, eliminate all illegal immigration and have a “significant decrease in legal immigration.”
“That would mean more jobs for Americans,” Goode said.
“Why would we issue 1.2-million green cards when unemployment is between 8 and 9 percent? We did under President Obama.”
Two exceptions to limited immigration he would support are fiancé visas and “someone who was a Werner Von Braun,” he said, referring to the late German rocket scientist who was welcomed into the United States to lead America’s development of rocket technology and helped the U.S. to send a man to the moon.
While answering questions from Rotarians, Goode said he supports photo ID voting cards, because in areas where election officials don’t know most of the voters, “People could just pass voter registration cards around.”
He also said he supports cutting defense spending but not veterans benefits.
