Former SMU AD Russ Potts Announces Virginia Governor Bid

[MrMustang1965]

http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories ... ader$32201

Russ Potts is used to uphill battles.

When he took over as sports editor of The Winchester Star, the paper had arguably the worst sports section in the state.

It took some work, OK, a lot of work, a lot of late nights and early mornings and weekends spent away from home, but when he left six years later, the section had won six state awards in six years, including two first-place awards.

The future Virginia state senator started the first-ever college sports-promotion department at his next stop at the University of Maryland, then rose to the title of athletics director at Southern Methodist University in the late 1970s just as the Mustangs football program was on the verge of what was to be its breakout run.

"I remember being asked at the news conference announcing that I'd been hired if I knew what I was getting myself into, because SMU had one of the worst attendance records at that time. I remember answering back to the reporter, 'I look at it like we have a lot of opportunity to grow here,' " said Potts, who announced last week that he will run as an independent for the open Virginia governor job in the November state elections.

Actually, Potts is running as a self-styled "independent Republican," to hear him tell it, anyway.

"I haven't left the Republican Party, and I'm not going to leave. I was born a Republican, and I will die a Republican," Potts told The Augusta Free Press on Tuesday.

"I've certainly been a Republican longer than these overzealous activists who are 29 or 30 years old and have no life experiences to fall back on who have been making it their life to try to tell me what the Republican Party is supposed to be. They don't know how to govern in the slightest. They certainly don't have a feel for the tradition in Virginia, which is that you govern from the middle, not from either extreme," Potts said.

Borrowing from his background as a sports promoter, Potts has cast himself as the people's champion in his race against presumptive Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee Tim Kaine and Republican Party nomination frontrunner Jerry Kilgore.

"People love the underdog. They love to be a part of seeing an underdog pull off the upset. They love being a part of history. I'm trying to give people a chance to do that in this year's election," Potts said.

"I feel like I have been preparing my whole life for this. Everything I've done has been to get me ready for what I am about to attempt. As I've learned over the years, the only way you can win is if you're not afraid to lose. We demonstrated that at Maryland, SMU, the Chicago White Sox, where we had the biggest opening day ever in Comiskey Park when they said it couldn't be done," Potts said.

"Tell me what I've got to lose? Except for eight months of hard work and dedication to trying to make a go of this? Anything is possible," Potts said.

"It won't be easy, to be sure. But we're going to win this thing with the support of Republicans, Democrats and independents who want to send a message about what they want to see done in Richmond to address the problems that are facing us," Potts said.