Sam Rasoul Initial Impressions

Note: These are my initial thoughts on Sam Rasoul. My thoughts on his primary opponent Drew Richardson are in the very next post.

Besides being an undecided active Dem I haven't really looked into the candidates more deeply than the average voter yet, but these are my thoughts as where I stand now and what the "word on the street" is. As I start researching the candidates, their campaigns, facebooking their staffers for embarrasing pictures from that night at the Frat party they can't really remember and so on my undecidedness may change but I don't foresee that happening until a few days before my County Caucus.

Keep in mind that I'll certainly praise and probably offend both candidates and their uncles on this blog but don't take it as outright support or a race altering endorsement unless it has the words "I support" in the post title.

Sam Rasoul
Pros: Is a 26 year old business man whose bio states he got started by creating several small businesses in women's fitness, tanning, movie rentals and real estate. Hey, if I had an MBA at 22 and my father owned some commercial properties I could rent on the cheap I'd probably some "small businesses in women's fitness, tanning" myself. If you ever have the honor of meeting his foxy wife, you probably would too. Since then he has gone on to start the American subsidiary of a German medical supplier.

His bio also highlights his work with The Hope Fund a charity which benefits Middle Eastern students with a focus on the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Cons: Where's the beef? I'm not entirely sure that Sam has the experience to either be a Congressman or take on Goodlatte. He has made several rookie mistakes such as beginning his campaign stating that he was pro-life, initially using the website samrasoul.us which no one would find, and blowing through half his cash on hand by the 12/31/07 report. He's a really nice guy and I think he's in this for all the right reasons but someone has to ask "why would the conservative voters choose a 26 year old medical salesman over their Congressman they know and love?"

81Blue's "thoughts": Sam has run the most energetic Democratic campaign the 6th has probably ever seen. During the past year he has met with anyone willing to listen regardless of their political stances spanning the gambit from getting the endorsement of the former Chair of the Virginia Green Party to meeting with a local group of Ron Paul supporters. The blogosphere and activists have generally rewarded him for it. Sam has garnered early and public support from VA blogs and local Democratic Committee Members. That's the kind of campaign we need to unseat Goodlatte in November.

Sam might also have enough time to recover from some earlier mistakes. He has recently hired Mario Piscatella to be his Campaign Manager. Mario has some Caucus experience which may come in handy for Sam having been a Field staffer for Chris Dodd in Iowa and a "Caucus Organizer" for the Nevada Democratic Party helping them set up for their huge turnout caucuses.