"LOVINGSTON - Larry Moore got the crowd going at Saturday’s Fifth District Democratic Convention, joining fellow party members who said their Congressman was not doing enough to stem job losses.

Moore attended the convention as a delegate from Franklin County, which has been hit hard by factory layoffs in recent years. Virgil H. Goode, the Republican incumbent in the Fifth District, lives in Franklin County too.

“We’re working very hard to send our homeboy home,” Moore told a cheering crowd of more than 150 people as he spoke in favor of Goode’s Democratic opponent, Lovingston vintner Al Weed.

“I’m not seeing him bringing anything back to Franklin County,” Moore said of Goode. “I don’t see the vision for the future of Franklin County.”

The convention was held at Nelson County High School. Delegates nominated Weed to run in the Nov. 2 election in the Fifth District, Virginia’s biggest. It spans 22 localities, including Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

Meredith Richards, a Charlottesville city councilor, also supported Weed in a speech she titled “Virgil Fiddles While Rome Burns!” In it, she characterized Goode as a prisoner of special interests who has shortchanged hardworking Virginians.

“Virgil Goode started out in life with every advantage,” she said. “First he was the son of Democrats. Second, he lived a comfortable life in an area rich with tobacco farming and manufacturing. But when he went on to Washington, he became the son of special interests and corporate contributions.”

Weed took the stage later, backed by thunderous applause.

In a speech that quoted former President Harry S. Truman extensively, Weed focused on economic concerns and the invasion of Iraq.

Weed supports lowering taxes for working families. He said resources used to fight the war in Iraq could be used to “restore prosperity to Americans at home.” And he said free trade is causing tens of thousands of Americans to lose their jobs.

“Recent studies show that, in adjusted dollars, the Bush war in Iraq has already cost more than the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Spanish American War and the first Gulf War - combined,” he said. “With the newly identified amounts, Bush’s war costs will exceed those of World War I.”

Weed believes the U.S. should recall all troops from Iraq after sovereignty is returned to the Iraqis on June 30 as planned.

If troops are not removed at that time, however, Weed believes their numbers should be doubled.

“What worries me is the idea that the president is asking American troops to stay until freedom is in place,” Weed said. “Nobody knows what that means.”" (Reed Williams, The Daily Progress, May 9, 2004)

Contact Reed Williams at (434) 978-7263 or fwilliams@dailyprogress.com.