Here is what the Virginia Democratic Party said in their September 6th Memo about the Washingtonian Magazine poll of the "Best and Worst of Congress":

"Those who know Congress best, the staffs of the Democratic and Republican members of that body, have proven what many Virginia Democrats have long suspected - U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode has no backbone. Out of 435 members, the party-switching 5th District Congressman was voted the member with the third weakest spine in a survey of Congressional staffs done by Washingtonian Magazine.

The results of the survey come as no surprise to Virginia Democrats who've seen Goode sell them out for 30 pieces of silver--plus a spot on the Appropriations committee and a promise of favorable redistricting treatment from Republicans, betraying Democrats who supported him loyally through 20 years in the Virginia Senate and three years in Congress. There was plenty of precedent for that betrayal - in 1996 Goode sold out his Democratic colleagues in the Virginia Senate for a power-sharing agreement and was rewarded by Republicans with a coveted slot on the budget conference committee.

Goode's lack of spine has been amply displayed during his term in Congress. The most recent example came as Goode was plotting his switch from Disloyal Democrat to Republican-In-Everything-Except-Name. While Goode was pondering his decision, his new friends Gov. Jim Gilmore and House Speaker Vance Wilkins did everything in their power to stop the Southside delegation in the General Assembly from providing relief for unemployed textile workers in Henry County and Martinsville. Wilkins mocked the workers' repeated trips to Richmond to lobby their government for help and Gilmore made it clear he had no intention of helping those working families, vetoing their last chance for relief.

Where was Virgil Goode when his new-found friends Gilmore and Wilkins were kicking the people of his district in the teeth? Did he use his impending party switch to pressure Gilmore and Wilkins to treat the people of his district fairly? No, like his other new friend George Allen, Goode kept quiet while those in charge of his redistricting fate used their political muscle to betray the workers of Southside.

The Goode record has become one of disloyalty and betrayal--for Democrats and for the people of the 5th District. Fortunately, voters in the 5th District have a clear choice this year. They can vote for Democrat John Boyd, the "do something" candidate for Congress. John Boyd will fight for the people of the district just as he fought, and won, for African-American farmers across Virginia and the nation. John Boyd will not hold his tongue while the rights of the people of the district are trampled by special interests in Richmond or in Washington. John Boyd intends to be a Congressman who works for his district. He intends to be a Congressman with a spine" (Demo Memo, September 6, 2000).

Virgil Goode came in third in the House for "Weakest Spine" behind Michael Forbes (D-NY), first, and Dennis Hastert (R-IL), second and is the only Virginian to make it on the list apart from Jim Moran, (D-VA) who came in first in the House for 'Hotest Temper.'

'Weakest Spine' for the Senate included Trent Lott (R-MS), first, Jim Jeffords (R-VT), second, and Patty Murray (D-WA)" (Washingtonian, September 2000).