Ron Ferrin, owner of Video Internet Productions in Lynchburg, is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Fifth Congressional District of Virginia.

Ferrin answered questions from the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner at the Fifth District GOP convention on May 1 in Farmville.

The candidate named his top three issues in the general election campaign.

Teaching Conservatism
“Number one, Perriello’s record. Number two, Obama’s record. And number three, the value of conservatism. I believe teaching conservatism is just as important as legislating it.”

He explained that last point by saying that he will, “instead of taking vacations on the taxpayer dollar, I’m going to use that time to go to other districts that are still controlled by Democrats.”

He gave the example that “if [Congressman Rick] Boucher wins, and if I’m fortunate enough to win, I’m going to be campaigning starting in December in the Ninth District, as well as starting my [re-]election campaign here. I’m going to find where Democrats are, and even some moderate Republicans, because conservatism is the key.”

On the Same Team
As far as unifying the party behind him if he wins the seven-way primary on June 8, Ferrin said he has urged Bill Stanley, the new district Republican chairman, “to get an absolute commitment from all seven [candidates] that on June 9th we go to whoever won – whether we go to Danville, Franklin, Campbell County, or Albemarle County, or Fluvanna – and we stand behind the new nominee and we say we are united behind this person. This person has six new assistants to get that person elected.”

On June 9th, Ferrin said, “we are all on the same team.”

Similarly, to unite the various elements of the Republican party – libertarians, social conservatives, neo-conservatives, and others – Ferrin said the key is “lack of anger,” explaining that, “with a lot of conservatives, if a person walks in with an exact opposite viewpoint, that person is often discredited and dismissed just like a lot of liberals will discredit and dismiss someone who comes in with an opposite view.”

Ferrin noted that he enjoys going to downtown Charlottesville to campaign, even though “95 percent of the people there” are his polar opposites politically, especially with regard to social issues. He said he wears a t-shirt “that says, ’I’m running for Congress. Ask me any question.’ And believe me, they do.”

He engages with “people that tell me that I think Perriello’s the greatest congressman and Obama’s the greatest president.”

Yet he gets positive reactions even from typical Charlottesville liberals.

“After we talk for sometimes half an hour, they’ll often say, I disagree with you more than I do anybody else, but I’ll tell you what: I hope you’re the nominee because either I get the guy I like, Tom Perriello, or the devil I can live with because – this has been told over and over to me – they feel I’m approachable,” he said.

Krispy Kreme Politics
As a member of Congress, Ferrin could be the country’s biggest booster of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Recalling that President Andrew Jackson once kept a large wheel of cheese in the White House so that visitors “off the street” could have something to nosh on, the candidate made a pledge of accessibility with snacks.

“Cheese is fine,” Ferrin said, but “I like Krispy Kremes. We’re going to have Krispy Kreme days … all over the Fifth District. I have promised that my offices will be on public property” (a contrast with Perriello, whose Charlottesville office is on private property, making it difficult for constituents to have mass demonstrations there).

“The only reason for people to swarm my office in Washington or here is if I’m not doing my job,” he continued. “If I’m not doing my job, you can come picket and I promise we’ll always have coffee and Krispy Kremes [and] bran muffins for the people on the left. We’ll always have Krispy Kremes; you can come in, and that’s how it’s open, come in, and we’re going to sit and talk.”

Smiling, Ferrin added, “Naturally, being the one that you’re coming to see, I’ll get more Krispy Kremes than anybody else, but that’s a good thing, I think.”

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