FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Goodlatte Peer Endorses Rasoul

The Rasoul for Congress campaign today received the endorsement of Mr. Wayne Gilchrest, the Republican Congressman representing the 1st District of Maryland. Mr. Gilchrest sits on the Committees of Natural Resources and Transportation & Infrastructure. Congressman Gilchrest has served with Congressman Goodlatte on many issues common to both regions including this year's Farm Bill and Chesapeake Bay concerns.

Congressman Gilchrest stated, "For 18 years I have served as a Republican member of the House of Representatives. But I am crossing party lines to endorse Sam Rasoul because of his positions on the important policy issues of today. I'm supporting Sam Rasoul because I know that he shares our values and will put principle above party in Washington."

Mr. Gilchrest was elected to Congress in 1990 and has served with Congressman Goodlatte for the last 16 years. Knowing Mr. Goodlatte for so long, it comes as a surprise that Congressman Gilchrest would back his opponent but he continued, "Sam will work with both sides of the aisle to address the many problems that Virginians and the people of this great nation face. From the economy to health care to responsibly ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sam has the skill and the knowledge to be a responsible voice for you in our nation's Capitol. As a veteran who served in Viet Nam and as a Marine rifleman, I would be proud to have Sam Rasoul at my side."

"Mr. Gilchrest has served his district and this nation proudly," responded Rasoul. "I am honored to receive his endorsement and look forward to continuing the tradition of bi-partisanship that Congressman Gilchrest has held in trust during his tenure in Washington."

This is Mr. Rasoul's fourth major endorsement in the last week and follows the endorsement of Chairman John Conyers of Michigan, The Roanoke Times and The Staunton News Leader.

Breaking: Goodlatte Falsifies Claims of Support on Campaign Literature

The Sam Rasoul for Congress campaign today discovered that claims of support on a recent piece of campaign literature sent out by the Goodlatte for Congress campaign were falsified. Specifically, the claim that Mike Breeden, a Democratic member of the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors, is in support of Congressman Goodlatte is a fabrication. The piece, called "Putting People First," lists a small number of Democrats and Independents allegedly in support of Congressman Goodlatte.

Supervisor Breeden stated, "I did not endorse Bob Goodlatte. I did not return a call to Bob Goodlatte in which he asked me for permission to use my name as a Democrat supporting him in the Shenandoah Valley. I support the Democratic party and Sam Rasoul for Congress."

Sean Sarah, a spokesperson for the Rasoul campaign decried the use of Breeden's name by saying, "We expect our leaders to build real bi-partisan coalitions to get things done both here and in Washington. Creating a sense of false cooperation as a political tactic is exactly what Mr. Rasoul has been fighting against these last twenty-two months. Congressman Goodlatte didn't tell us the truth on term limits and he's not telling the truth in his campaign literature. After sixteen years we expected more from Congressman Goodlatte."

This new information comes on the heels of a Roanoke Times blog post entitled "But Bob, we didn't endorse you." The article details how Congressman Goodlatte cherry-picked information out of Roanoke Times articles to make it appear that the newspaper endorsed the Congressman. In response to this, the newspaper replied "This sort of lifting comments out of context is nothing new in campaign literature, but it's also no less shameful today than the first time someone did it."

We got the News Leader endorsement

The support keeps on rolling in! This morning the Staunton News Leader endorsed Sam's candidacy for Congress! I'll keep it short and sweet, here is the link:

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081030/OPINION01/810300307

Thank you all so much for all you do. Just a few short days to go until victory!

Cheers!

Sean Sarah
Communications Director
Sam Rasoul for Congress

Roanoke Times Endorses Rasoul

Spread the word! This time it's for real:

From the Monday, October 27th Roanoke Times

"In the 6th District, Sam Rasoul

Bob Goodlatte is facing his first serious challenger in a decade. Sam Rasoul has proved himself a worthy candidate and would serve the district well.

Americans are dissatisfied with a dysfunctional Congress that has placed rabid partisanship and the influence of lobbyists above the interests of the Americans who elected them.

This Nov. 4 affords an opportunity for Americans to force change. Voters in Virginia's 6th Congressional District can help to hasten reforms by electing newcomer Sam Rasoul to replace longtime incumbent Bob Goodlatte.

Rasoul, at age 27, is the youngest person running for Congress. He is still wrapped up in the naïveté of youth. He believes that, with enough principled members, Congress could change. He is idealistic but doesn't seem to fully grasp or appreciate how the system works. Still, voters could do worse than give Rasoul a chance to prove himself.

He has shown through the campaign that he lives up to his principles. He won the Democrats' support as their nominee, but he has shunned all party and political action committee money.

This is a gamble that may prove foolish because it deprived him of the financial resources to buck an entrenched incumbent. Yet he has run an energetic and wide-reaching campaign throughout the 6th District based on individual contributions alone. He made a real sacrifice to remain true to his ideals.

There is also an independent candidate in the race: Janice Lee Allen. She has run a very low-key campaign and brings far too little to the race to warrant consideration.
Goodlatte will not be easy to defeat. His constituents know him well and appreciate him and what he has done for the district and the state.

Goodlatte needs to be given his due. He has been a good public servant and has demonstrated often his ability to work in a bipartisan manner, most notably on local and regional projects with Rep. Rick Boucher.

However, Goodlatte too often votes the party line, rarely breaking from years of support for the failed policies of President Bush.

When he first ran for Congress in 1992, Goodlatte said he so believed in term limits that he would limit his service to 12 years. That date has long come and gone, and Goodlatte hasn't faced a strong challenger in a decade.

Goodlatte said he still believes in term limits but said they must be imposed on everyone to work. If he were to voluntarily step down, he said, his constituents would lose his influence and standing in Washington, D.C.

We agreed with his decision in 2002 -- and still do. Voters are the ones who should implement term limits.

Now, after 16 years of Goodlatte's support for a discredited conservative ideology, Rasoul's fresh, principled campaign provides sufficient reason for voters to seriously consider taking that step."


On to November!
Sean Sarah
Communications Director
Sam Rasoul for Congress

It's time to make history

On the day after an election, the celebration is twice as sweet for those of us who have made the victories happen. But, of course, victory happens only if thousands of us quit saying, "I don't have the time right now." Right now is the only time. With ten days before the election, every day is essential.

Earlier this week when I dropped by the Harrisonburg Obama office, I ran into a friend who said she and her husband are canvassing everyday because knocking on doors helps her to deal with her "anxiety level." If you're a bit anxious yourself or tired of watching history unfold without you, we have good news for you. There's plenty of work to do everywhere -- including new field offices in Roanoke and Covington and Woodstock! Never in my memory has the 6th district offered us so much opportunity.

Voting for Obama/Warner/Rasoul is only half the story; for the other half, continue reading.

Roanoke/Salem/Botetourt
Stop by Sam Rasoul's headquarters at Lamplighter Mall on Williamson Road (especially this weekend) to help with a huge mailing or other office work.

Or join the Virginia Campaign for Change in Roanoke -- headquarters at Lamplighter Mall on Williamson Road or the headquarters on Campbell Street in downtown Roanoke or the Campaign for Change office on Kirk Street in downtown Roanoke. Call 540-985-3078 for more information and see the schedule below.

Lynchburg/Bedford/Amherst
Join the Virginia Campaign for Change in Lynchburg at 12th and Main in Lynchburg. Call 434-845-3741 for more information and see the schedule below.

Lexington/Buena Vista/Rockbridge
Join the Virginia Campaign for Change in Lexington at their downtown headquarters. Call 540-904-3834 for more information and see the schedule below.

Covington
Join the new field office at 214 N. Monroe -- call Ben Thomas at 540-904-3834 or Jeff Phan at 202-294-2814 for more information.

Staunton/Augusta County/Waynesboro
Join the Virginia Campaign for Change on Johnson Street in downtown Staunton. Call 804-519-1085 for more information and see the schedule below.

Harrisonburg/Rockingham
Join the Virginia Campaign for Change in downtown Harrisonburg or call 540-908-2081. Or join the team for Rockingham County centered in the office in downtown Bridgewater. Call 540-322-9986. Again, see the schedule below.

Shenandoah
Drop by the new field office at 246 East High in Woodstock or call 804-852-1946.

Making history schedule: In most offices there are phone shifts starting at 10, 12, 2, 5, and 7. Canvasses start at 5 during the week; 10, 3, and 4 on Saturdays; and 12, 3, and 5 on Sundays.

So . . . right now we need your help and then on Election Night we'll enjoy the sweetness of victory together.

Write For Sam One More Time!

Letters to the editor are a critical part of any grass roots campaign. In fact, the editorial page is the second most read part of the newspaper after the front page. It is the space where your voice can be heard unfiltered and (relatively) unedited.

Because of you, we've been dominating the editorial pages of every daily newspaper across the district. We're beating out Goodlatte's team at least 3 letters to 1. But, most news papers in the region have a deadline for getting your letters in before the election.

That's why we need you to submit one more letter to your local newspaper in support of Sam! And it needs to happen before Monday, October the 27th.

We're closer than you think to victory and even closer to election day. That's why it is so important to get one final, huge, push of letters into every newspaper in the district.

Click here to send a letter to your local newspaper.

We need your help today. We're asking that you send in a letter via our easy to use system and then forward this e-mail on to five of your friends. Remember, you need to get them to commit to sending a letter by this Sunday. We can win this if every one of us just takes one more step to get us across the finish line.

Sam Rasoul Begins Main Street Tour

Democratic Congressional candidate Sam Rasoul began a tour of the many main streets and downtowns in the district yesterday. Mr Rasoul aims to further inform himself on the issues facing Virginians with the financial crisis looming. Sam will tour over 40 main streets and downtowns in his trip across the 6^th District.

Rasoul stated, "Over the next two weeks I plan to get back to basics, meeting with the everyday folks of Main Street Virginia. As politicians, we sometimes become too detached from the needs of the citizens and too polarized by campaigning. A tour like this will let me meet the people who keep the engines of our economy running while returning to that great democratic tradition of small town conversations about big issues."

For more information on Sam Rasoul, visit www.Sam2008.com.