Sunday, May 25, 2008
Rasoul gets nod from area Democrats
The candidate from Blue Ridge will challenge U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte in the 6th District.
Related
The latest from our Blue Ridge Caucus politics blog
- Va. Senate votes to restrict local government land grabs
- House advances “personhood” and abortion ultrasound bills
From today's paper
Democrat Sam Rasoul, who since last spring has been running for Congress, received the official nomination Saturday to face U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, in the November general election.
Rasoul, who lives in Blue Ridge, was selected by Democrats in the 6th Congressional District during an uncontested nominating convention at Rockbridge County High School.
He will be the first Democrat to challenge Goodlatte, an eight-term incumbent, since Roanoke Mayor-elect David Bowers tried in 1998. Goodlatte has faced independents since then but won easily each time.
Rasoul, 26, is general manager of a small medical distribution firm in the Roanoke Valley. He also owns a women's fitness center in Botetourt County and a video store in Bedford County.
Although Rasoul is almost 30 years Goodlatte's junior, the Southwest Roanoke native said he represents the future of America.
During an interview Saturday afternoon after campaigning in Lexington, Rasoul said he has a message for those who may think he is too young: "Listen, it's my future that's on the line," he said. "Give the youth a chance."
Rasoul's political platforms include the war in Iraq and energy independence.
"Our country is going broke because of this war," he said. "We are in hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, and the debt is being passed on to the next generation to deal with. Our economy cannot withstand this kind of debt from the war -- if nothing else, we should get out of the war simply for economic reasons."
Rasoul also said America's energy dependence on other countries is becoming a national security problem.
"The more and more dependent we are on foreign oil, the more it makes our nation vulnerable," he said.
Linda Wyatt, chairwoman of the 6th District Democratic Committee, said Saturday that district Democrats feel Rasoul has a good chance in the race because of the urgency for change many Americans feel.
"I think the country is in the mood for a change, and I think that change becomes all the more clear each time we go to the gas pump," she said.
Each of the district's 19 localities held caucuses in April to select delegates to the convention -- a process that was simplified when Rasoul's only opponent, retired FBI agent Drew Richardson of Augusta County, withdrew from the race early that month.
The delegates then confirmed Rasoul's nomination at the convention. Also on Saturday, they voted on five delegates to go to the National Democratic Convention in June.
Rasoul raised $131,831 through the end of March, and after spending a little more than half of that has $61,731 left in cash on hand. Goodlatte, meanwhile, raised $733,653 -- more than five times more than Rasoul -- and has nearly $1.5 million to spend on the race.
Representatives of Goodlatte's campaign could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Besides money, Goodlatte has the advantages of incumbency and name recognition in the 6th District, which stretches from the Roanoke Valley up the Interstate 81 corridor through the Shenandoah Valley.
Rasoul has been campaigning for 16 months in an effort to combat those advantages, posting campaign signs that were up even during last year's General Assembly races.
That led to a squabble earlier this spring with Botetourt County officials who argued his signs were displayed too far in advance of the election. In response to a threat of legal action by the American Civil Liberties Union, the county later announced plans to repeal the language in its ordinance limiting the time period for displaying political signs.
