"Fifth District Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. pulled out a bottle of ketchup Tuesday evening at the local Republican Party headquarters opening and fired up the crowd.

As the aroma of cooking chicken and beef from nearby restaurants wafted through a crowd of almost 100 local Republicans, Goode waved a bottle of “W Ketchup” from his podium position outdoors along Holiday Drive and spoke of its symbolic value.

“I’m sure without a doubt this ketchup is good, conservatively flavored and not a ‘shove it’ kind of ketchup like the other brand,” Goode said.

The Rocky Mount Republican called it “the ketchup I’m going to be using until at least Nov. 2 - and it’s got a W on it instead of an H,” referring to Heinz ketchup and alluding to a remark Teresa Heinz Kerry made a month ago when she told a journalist to “shove it.”

Goode also made liberal use of the ‘L’ word as he referred to Sen. John Kerry and Nelson County vintner Al Weed, the Democratic candidates for president and Congress on 5th District ballots, as a ticket that would follow “the liberal course.”

“John Kerry is one of the most liberal members of the United States Senate, and I say his values and his positions are not mainstream America, and at this juncture in our history it’s important to have a mainstream American leading this country.”

Goode said that he and President Bush favor the death penalty, favor legislative bans on late-term abortions and want to make the president’s tax cuts permanent.

“I believe the American people can do a better job directing resources than federal agencies,” Goode said in support of the tax cuts.

“There’s also a big difference on gay unions,” Goode said. He said that he and Bush support “the federal marriage amendment” to the Constitution.

After Goode and GOP Dels. Rob Bell and R. Steven Landes christened the Charlottesville and Albemarle County party headquarters, the three elected Republicans expressed surprise at 2nd District Rep. Edward L. Schrock’s abrupt decision Monday not to seek a third term in Congress in light of an allegation he was recorded soliciting gay sex.

Schrock, a Virginia Beach Republican, retired 11 days after a Web site alleged that he is gay and had solicited sex from men, an accusation posted by blogACTIVE.com.

“I was surprised,” Goode said. “I don’t know whether the allegations are accurate. I would wait to see what Ed says.”

Bell, R-Albemarle, said Schrock announced his retirement “in time so that the party could find a nominee, which they did pretty quickly” by selecting Del. Thelma Drake, R-Norfolk.

“She’s been a mainstream conservative in the House of Delegates,” Bell said of Drake.

Schrock, 63, was one of 233 legislators who voted for the Marriage Protection Act, which would block federal courts from hearing constitutional issues arising from gay-marriage cases.

Mike Rogers, the blogger who took credit for “outing” Schrock as a gay Republican who voted against the interests of gays, said an anonymous source gave him an audiotape he posted on the Web site that he claimed was Schrock calling into a telephone service men use to meet men." (Bob Gibson, Daily Progress, September 1, 2004)