Dar Editor,

Morgan Griffith’s unlikely campaign for Congress in the Ninth Congressional District has more than just a whiff of the unmistakable scent of political opportunism about it. He doesn’t live in the Ninth Congressional District, can’t vote in our district, knows little about its 27 political jurisdictions, and has never seemed to care very much about it. He represents the city of Salem in the Virginia House of Delegates, which has an urban character and four-lane sensibilities as distinct from the mostly rural two-lane characteristics of the Ninth Congressional District.  (more…)

Dear Editor:

Morgan Griffith can perhaps be forgiven if he is in error about Congressman Rick Boucher’s record on creating jobs. After all, he doesn’t live here, so how would he know? He hasn’t been reading our newspapers for the last 20 years as I have. (more…)

Dear Editor:

Morgan Griffith continues to surprise, particularly in his disregard for the ability of voters in the 9th District to see through his hypocrisy.

I read with interest the letter from Mr. Carter Turner, who ran against Griffith in 2009 for the Virginia House of Delegates seat in the 8th District. Griffith is asking voters here to believe that he can represent the 9th District even though he has never lived here and does not plan to move here even if he is elected.

However, Turner’s letter quoted Griffith as saying in 2009 that his years as a resident and business owner in the 8th District helped him understand “where constituents will be on an issue” and gave him “a feel for the community.”

I, of course, verified the statement that Turner cited, and you can find it easily on The Roanoke Times website. The article, published Oct. 21, 2009, was titled “In 8th District, Turner Takes on a Local Titan in Griffith.” So last October Griffith believed that a special sense of a place and its people derives from actually being a part of that place. But now, less than a year later, he is asking me as a voter to believe he can serve the 9th without ever having been among us at all or ever intending to live here.

His “then” and “now” statements reveal him to be a political opportunist, able to change his stripe at will. The voters of the 9th can recognize a hypocrite, and Griffith has proven once again that he deserves the title.

Sincerely,

Sarah Williams
Bristol, Virginia

Dear Editor,

Last fall, I had the honor of opposing Morgan Griffith for the Virginia House of Delegate seat he currently holds. Del. Griffith of Salem (6th Congressional District) is now the Republican candidate opposing Congressman Rick Boucher (9th Congressional District) for the U.S. House of? Representatives. My, how times have changed!

Speaking to a Roanoke Times reporter last fall, Griffith stated that I was less qualified to represent the people of Salem and Roanoke County because I had only recently moved to the district. Despite having grown up in the district and having lived there the previous two years, Griffith claimed I lacked knowledge of the particular needs of the people I’d be representing—knowledge gained only by living and working within the district for many years.

“Being a product of the district,” Griffith told the Times “… helps me understand where constituents will be on an issue. I’ve operated a business here on Main Street for 25 years,” Griffith continued, “[and] that gives me a feel for the community.”

So last fall, Griffith tried to convince voters he was more qualified because he had lived in the 8th House of Delegates District longer than I. Now he is trying to convince voters that his failure to live even a day in the 9th Congressional District is completely irrelevant.

There’s no shortage of blame for our country’s current problems. But if the citizens of Virginia’s 9th knowingly elect a bald-faced and unapologetic hypocrite to Congress, they’ll have only themselves to blame for the problems surely to follow.

Carter Turner
Salem, Virginia

Dear Editor

I write this letter concerning the upcoming 9^th District Congressional election where Rep. Rick Boucher will be running for a 15^th term as the representative for the 9^th District. However, I believe that most if not all those currently living in the 9^th District know about Rep. Boucher and all that he has done for the district in his over 20 years of service to the 9^th District. So I am going to address something about his presumptive opponent that I personally have immense concern over and I believe all those voting in the election should be fully aware of.

House of Delegate member Morgan Griffith has recently announced he will be challenging Congressman Boucher in the 2010 election, something that I have no problem with. Competition is never a bad thing especially in politics; it allows for new ideas to be introduced and gives people a chance at seeing the American Democracy in action, a truly beautiful thing to witness. What does concern me is the fact that Morgan Griffith lives in Salem, Va., an area not in the 9^th District but in the 6^th District, a district currently represented by Congressman Bob Goodlatte. His current House of Delegates district is composed of Salem and Roanoke, more urban areas not even close to 9^th District rural counties like Wise County or Bland County.

 I do not understand how Del. Griffith can represent an area that he does not live in, especially an area as vast and complex as the 9^th District. If he truly has ideas on how to improve America, and believes he can be an excellent Congressman, why not challenge Rep. Bob Goodlatte in the 6^th district, the district he currently resides in. I do not believe it is fair that the 9^th District could possibly not have a House of Representative member fighting for the rights and interests of the thousands who live in the 9^th District, in counties such as Wythe, Grayson, or Montgomery, if Del. Griffith has his way and beats Rep. Boucher.

I also cannot honesty believe that if an issue arises that puts the interests of the 9^th District against the interests of the 6^th District that Del. Griffith will vote for the people he would represent and not the district that he would reside in. It would be a travesty for Southwest Virginia if the 6^th District got two votes in Congress while the 9^th District got zero, eliminating the voices of around 600,000 residents of the 9^th District from the halls of Congress

 I believe every person who casts a ballot in November should understand that one of the candidates on the ballot does not live in the 9^th District and could very possibly not have the interests of the citizens of the 9^th District at heart, instead desiring and prioritizing his own political interests.

Sincerely,

Charles Midkiff
Radford

Dear Editor:

H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem), the current Majority Leader for the Virginia House of Delegates, has decided to run for Congress. And he wants to represent us here in the Ninth District, even though he’s never actually lived in the Ninth District. I guess after getting little Willie Morefield elected out here with their money, Republicans from the Eastern part of the Commonwealth think they can just start sending us their candidates! Well, as a resident of the Ninth District, I resent it. (more…)