In this election cycle both national parties are calling for change. Though each party has its spin on the subject, there is unanimity in the declaration that Washington is broken.

Following the vice-presidential debate, on a radio news program I heard a political correspondent say, to paraphrase, that Joe Biden was intelligent, articulate and had a strong sense for both domestic and foreign policy issues … but that doesn’t necessarily win debates.

I am, I think, a pretty regular American — two kids, two cars — and I would never do anything to put my children’s future at risk.

It is an outrage that the University of Virginia plans to spend its resources raising $8 million to build a “bubbled playing field”

When will Virginia’s 5th District Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Rocky Mount, debate his Democratic challenger, Tom Perriello?

Virgil Goode has served us well over the years and can be trusted to look out for our interests.

The small, northern European countries described as “socialist” are not the utopian lands imagined.

The president should let the campaigning be damned and, right now, call Congress back into session.

Shame on the American public for looking the other way when confronted with the truth about Barack Obama.

Ken Boyd, chairman of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, is quoted as saying that “there’s no money on the horizon to do this [construct an Eastern Connector.”

Ken Boyd says there’s no money for an Eastern Connector. A more accurate statement would be: We choose to spend our money on other projects.

Those who worked at the University of Virginia hospital in the early 1980s will recall the original plan for the new hospital

Political realism is essential if the United States is to regain the respect of the rest of the world.

I was disheartened to see Virgil Goode pull out of the debate with Tom Perriello, and to see that in fact there may be no televised debates in this critical 5th District race.

I grow increasingly concerned that the hoopla and circus of the presidential campaign has diminished the attention given to the contest for the House.

John McCain, Barack Obama, et al.: Enough!

On a recent TV news segment, Barack Obama commented on John McCain’s apparently lack of empathy for teenage mothers.

I am a hunter, gun owner and sportsman. I received a pamphlet in the mail recently from the Republican National Committee depicting a giant hand reaching to snatch a rifle out of a hunter’s arms. The card warned that Barack Obama wanted to take away my guns.

Instead of destroying several softball fields in McIntire Park, why not place the YMCA swimming pool at the southeast corner of Melbourne Road and the railroad tracks with a bridge over the railroad tracks?

The Honorable Virgil H. Goode Jr., served 23 years in the Virginia Senate as a Democrat. He has served in the U. S. House of Representatives as a Democrat, Independent and Republican, respectively. Sometimes the extreme left chooses to misconstrue his position and attempts to distort his admirable record of accomplishments and exemplary character. These same people probably would support Rep. Goode if he were running as a Democrat.

Who is Eric Cantor working for? His constituents or the High Rollers of Wall Street?

I encourage our local governments to leave untouched, unless to increase, those human services funds so essential to our community’s most at risk.

Regarding the letter headlined “World hoping for Obama victory,” published on Oct. 3 in The Daily Progress:

Defying his president, his leadership and the needs of anxious constituents, Virgil Goode has once again put Republican orthodoxy over all else. Mr. Goode twice voted vote against the Emergency Econ-omic Stabilization Act.

On Oct. 1, in the Dome Room of the Rotunda at the Univer-sity of Virginia, there was a debate on health-care policy featuring a representative from each presidential campaign. John McCain was represented by Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr. who, starting in October 2001, served as assistant secretary of defense and leader of the military health system.

I am so excited! I can hardly wait for Nov. 5. By then the election will be over.

We are writing to thank the Charlottesville police for their prompt and reassuring response to our 911 call on Oct. 4.

I’m glad the first time I’ve ever agreed with Congressman Virgil Goode was on his opposition to what my television called a “bailout” and I called “Paulson’s Plunder.”

Anaphylactic shock: Several weeks ago I didn’t know how to spell or pronounce it, much less define it. Today, I can describe what it is like to go into anaphylactic shock — and be kept alive by:

I watched the vice-presidential debate with the hope that Gov. Sarah Palin would represent women well. While I will not be voting for Sen. John McCain and Gov. Palin, I think it is fantastic that a woman is running in a largely boys-only field. Seeing her do well and come out strong would make me, as a woman (not as a Dem-ocrat) very proud.

By forcing banks to make loans with “no credit scores,”  Bill Clinton and community organizer Barack Obama helped bring down Freddie and Fannie.