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Virgil Goode, potential third party presidential spoiler, talks to Lawrence O'Donnell

If you're a conservative who has earned the ire of Donald Trump, you might be doing something right.Virgil Goode, presidential candidate for the conservative Co

If you're a conservative who has earned the ire of Donald Trump, you might be doing something right.

Virgil Goode, presidential candidate for the conservative Constitution Party, unlocked this achievement by getting his name on the ballot in Virginia. Goode served six terms as a Republican House member from that state, and his local popularity has some Republicans running scared.

As The Donald tweeted on September 7:

The Republicans must get Virgil Goode out of the race in Virginia. He will take votes away from @MittRomney.

In an exclusive interview with Lawrence O'Donnell on Tuesday's The Last Word, Goode issued his reaction: he's "not too scared."


President Obama and Mitt Romney are less than one percentage point apart in Virginia according to the latest Real Clear Politics poll average. If Goode gets "between 3 to 4 percent in his old congressional district alone, he could get more than 1 percent of the vote statewide," said O'Donnell, basing those numbers on a recent Washington Post report. "That's enough to make the difference in this election."

For his part, Goode says, "We will get some votes from Romney voters, but we will get a lot of votes from Obama voters ... [there's] a lot of straight arrow, yellow dog Democrats who would never vote Republican, but will vote for me." 

Virginia is a key state in this year's presidential election, with 13 electoral votes. The third party candidate is trying to make waves around the country, though, with rallies in Ohio and Nevada.

"It's time for grassroots citizens to have a president that's focused on them rather than the super PACs," Goode said to O'Donnell. He is not taking any PAC money for his campaign.

Goode also chastised team Romney "for listening to Donald Trump instead of the people on the street."

"[I will] bring in a lot of conservative voters that weren't going to go vote," he said.