In the News

By Bill Archer
© January 15, 2012
Read full story here

BLUEFIELD — Friday was a busy day for freshman U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., as he prepared to return to Washington, D.C., to represent Virginia’s Ninth Congressional District in the second session of the 112th Congress.

“Do I have time for one story?” Griffith asked, as the allotted time for his meeting with the Bluefield Daily Telegraph editorial board neared its end. He said he wanted to share a story before he tackled a final question about the polarity that seems to intensify as the party faithful — Republicans and Democrats alike — move closer to a national election.

“There was a fellow who was appointed to serve as president of a well-established college,” Griffith, 53, of Salem said. Prior to his election to the House in 2010, Griffith had served in the House of Delegates of the Virginia General Assembly for 17 years, including the last 11 years as the body’s majority party leader. In Virginia, that position has been held by Republi-cans in recent years.

He continued with his story: When the newly-appointed college president walked around campus, the students, faculty, staff and even classified personnel greeted him with a wave of the hand and a jolly salute: “Tally ho!” Griffith said. Over time, the fictional college president in Griffith’s tale accepted the expression as a greeting that was perhaps unique to that institution. However, when he responded in like manner, he began hearing snickers from the individuals he responded to.

After some time in the position, the college president got to know one of the students well enough and decided to ask him why so many people greeted him by saying: “Tally ho.” The student responded to the college president with another story. He said that some time ago, an individual associated with the college had overcome incredible challenges to earn success in life. Through hard work and determination, he amassed a fortune with his construction business, and the one thing he wanted to do as a treat to himself was to become a member of an exclusive hunt club.

Because of his success, the self-made man got his wish. He became a member of the hunt club and joined the other more well-heeled members for a fox hunt. After his first hunt, one of the esteemed members of the club came to him privately to explain a subtle nuisance that is observed during the hunt. The somewhat puzzled editorial board leaned closer to Griffith as he brought his story to a conclusion. The room remained quiet and still.

“The established hunt club member told the new member that in the future, during the hunt, when a member sees a fox, he calls out: ‘Tally ho!’ and not: ‘There goes that S-O-B!’” Griffith’s actual wording may have been a little different, but everyone in the conference room got the joke, and Daily Telegraph staffers greeted each other with hearty: “Tally ho’s!” through the balance of the day.

“I think of history when I consider whether or not the media works voters into a frenzy,” he said. “That was suggested as a cause of the Spanish American War when yellow journalists were accused of pushing the nation into a war.”

Rather that blame the media, Griffith suggested that the fault for the polarity may well be the anonymous independent expenditures for campaigns. “With no accountability in those ads, they’re a lot like anonymous emails, and I’m sure that just about everyone who has an email account gets them.

“Make people accountable,” he said. “There’s an old law in Virginia that says you can’t use fightin’ words in political ads. Let the money in politics do what it’s going to do. Just make it more accountable. Let people know where it’s coming from.”

Since he unseated a popular, long-term incumbent Congressman Rick Boucher to earn his seat in the House, Griffith has experienced some challenges in the transition. After the editorial board ended, he said it took several months to get his name painted on his door so people would know where to come to visit him, but asked for and received, off-the-record status on another, less chaffing topic.

“Rules,” Griffith said, harkening back to his days in the General Assembly. “I love rules. This is something that I’m geeky enough to love. If the people I represent feel strongly enough to ask me what’s wrong with Congress, I tell them: To me, that’s a system that’s not functioning the way it ought to.”

He explained that bills in the House don’t appear to follow the traditional route of becoming law. “I’m a big believer that when bills come through committee, they ought to go to the floor for debate and a vote,” he said. “That doesn’t happen in Washington. Sometimes bills get through committee and you never see them again. If we start doing things like that, we’re not going to get anything done.

“In the 2010 mid-term election, the American people sent a very conservative  congress to work with a very liberal Senate,” he said. “Voters really need to send a clear message to congress if they want change.” He said that voters sent conservatives to the House, but the system isn’t working. “I think we’re moving in the right direction, but we need to get there quicker. When you change what’s happening, you’ll always have problems.”

In terms of the federal highway bill, Griffith said he would rather see a six-year or five-year program like the model Virginia uses than the existing method. On the issue of post offices, Griffith said the U.S. Postal Service should have more flexibility in order to be competitive. “We have an obligation to make sure people get their mail,” he said.

Griffith said that as a freshman congressman, he did not think it would be appropriate for him to endorse any candidate in the Republican primary, although he provided a synopsis of the strengths and weaknesses of the front runners.

On a question about the Occupy and Tea Party movements, he said that both movements appear “frustrated” with the way things are. “Two years ago, I had a lot of Tea Party support, and I appreciate that,” he said. “Those of us who came in then want to see things get done. I want to see things get done. It’s going to take time,” he said, and added that the Tea Party achieved one major goal. “They’ve got congressmen who will listen to them,” he said.

At the end of the session, Griffith encouraged people in the Ninth District to contact his office with their concerns.