The former six-term US congressman from Virginia is running for the tiny Constitution Party on a budget so meager he can afford only four staff members. But what he lacks in funds, Goode makes up for in conviction.

"I'm strong pro-life, strong pro-traditional marriage, for a balanced budget now not 10 years down the road and I'm for jobs in America for American citizens," said Goode, 66.

A wiry lawyer with wavy silver hair and a pleasant smile, Goode was at a strip mall in the small town of Powhatan on a recent evening shaking hands and chatting up potential voters.

"I hadn't heard of him. I haven't seen any of his TV ads," said Peter Boss, a Vietnam war veteran, after meeting Goode while dining with his wife Valerie at a local restaurant.