Schmookler video going viral

If Andy Schmookler can translate YouTube views into votes, he’s halfway to a monumental upset.

A video of a speech given by the Sixth District Democratic congressional nominee is approaching 90,000 views on YouTube. Incumbent Bob Goodlatte won re-election in 2008 with 192,000 votes in the Sixth, garnering 63 percent of the vote in his race with Democrat Sam Rasoul.

The Schmookler speech was delivered Labor Day weekend in Harrisonburg. In the speech, Schmookler lays out his case that the race in the usually safe Republican Sixth isn’t liberal versus conservative, but rather constructive versus destructive.

“I am thrilled that this video has gone viral, kindling the interest of nearly 90,000 viewers so far. This strengthens my hope that this truth is ready to catch fire among our people and to help us surmount our present dangerous political crisis,” Schmookler said.

Schmookler is buttressing his grassroots campaign with the aid of social media. In addition to the campaign’s presence on YouTube, the Schmookler campaign has 2,100 likes on Facebook and more than 2,200 followers on Twitter.