Football trumps partisanship
In our Anecdotal Evidence column, movers and shakers share personal stories of how intriguing (and often odd) campaigning in their respective swing state can be.
Richard “Dickie” Cranwell – Former Chairman of Virginia Democrats
Richard “Dickie” Cranwell. Photo: Lars Gesing/CU News Corps
“When I ran for the state House in 1972, I won by 90 votes. I was the first Democrat to win a contested election in Roanoke County in about 16 years. That was because I was a Virginia Tech alumni and a former football player.
“The guy who was the editor of the sports page, Bob McLelland, wrote an editorial extolling the virtues of my campaign and how I and everybody in my family was working so hard. That hit the stands about two weeks before the election.
“All the Republicans were screaming bloody murder. But we won.”
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