WSLS profiles Virgil Goode

As Virgil Goode goes from table to table at the popular HUB restaurant in downtown Rocky Mount, you hear the same greeting from almost everyone: "Hey Virgil."

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That's right, they don't call him Congressman or sir... just Virgil.

And "Virgil" gives the same back, asking one man, "How's Arlene doing? Oh there she is, How's Freddie doing?"

Simply put, Rocky Mount is Virgil Goode country.

"Well, I know a right many that a lot of them I went to school with," Goode says.

His family roots go back farther than that, generations really. Goode's father was a longtime delegate and Commonwealth's Attorney. The building that houses Goode's congressional office in Rocky Mount and the main highway throough town are named for him.

WARREN: "WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP, DID YOU KNOW THAT POLITICS WOULD BE THE PROFESSION FOR YOU?"

GOODE: "Not really. I loved baseball and if I had my choice I'd be a baseball player."

What boy didn't dream of that? But, Goode fell into the family business, serving in the State Senate before winning election in 1996 to Congress.

Back then he was a Democrat, a conservative Democrat. By 1998 he was beginning the slow progression to the GOP, first by angering Democrats with is impeachment vote against President Clinton.

By 2000, he was an independent. A year later he was addressing the 2001 Virginia Republican Convention, getting the loudest applause of anyone. He told the group, "I am proud to be here."

In 2002, Goode made it official. He joined the Republican Party.

WARREN: "ARE YOU MORE COMFORTABLE IN THE GOP?"

GOODE: "Philosphically, yes."

And the voters couldn't have cared less.

WARREN: WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT YOUR VOTE TOTAL NEVER REALLY CHANGED WHETHER YOU WERE A DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN, OR INDEPENDENT?"

GOODE: "My positions didn't change."

WARREN: "PARTY LABEL DOESN'T MATTER IN THE 5TH DISTRICT?"

GOODE: "It matters somewhat, but not near as much as 30 years ago."

Instead, Goode says hard work, constituent services, and avoiding news cameras matter more.

"Ssometimes you get things done more efficiently if you're not out on the front page of the paper getting a headline every day," he said.

Although, that's advice he doesn't always follow. Take his headline grabbing stance on immigration.

In 2006 he said, "We will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt strict immigration policies."

Or is attention getting letter questioning a newly elected, Muslim member of Congress who wanted to use the Koran for his swearing in.

"I want to tell the people of the 5th district of Virginia and citizens of the US, I will not be using the Koran," Goode said during a news conference to quiet the political storm. He added, "No. I do not apologize and I do not retract my letter."

WARREN: "SO YOU AVOID THE SPOTLIGHT, BUT NOT ALWAYS CONTROVERSY. WHY IS THAT?"

GOODE: "You mean."

WARREN: "WHY DO YOU END UP A LITTLE CONTROVERSIAL AT TIMES?"

GOODE: "Well, I guess because I say what I think."

WARREN: "IS THAT A GOOD THING?"

GOODE: "I think it is."

WARREN: "ARE THERE TIMES WHERE YOU THINK, I WISH I HADN'T SAID THAT?"

GOODE: "No most of the time I believe what I say, so if you are saying what you believe even if some people don't like, I think you're doing the right thing."

For more than 30 years, that's worked for Goode no matter what party he was in. The voters overlooked the controversies, perhaps because they know him so well. you could almost hear them saying, "That's just Virgil being Virgil."