Independent U.S. Senate candidate to walk Valley

Independent Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Chisholm of Arlington plans to take a walking tour of the Shenandoah Valley next month.

Chisholm, 55, plans to start his journey in early February in Front Royal and head south, visiting Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, businesses and schools if possible.

“I’ll try to meet some townspeople,’’ said Chisholm, who will also collect signatures to get his name on the November Virginia ballot against his expected opponents, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen.

When visiting communities such as Luray, Elkton and ultimately Staunton and Waynesboro, Chisholm will talk about issues affecting them, such as improved mass transit.

When asked about his chances, Chisholm said, “I’m very much committed. My heart is in the campaign.”

Chisholm, a trained engineer, said Virginia voters “have a huge and big choice. The future in Washington is not necessarily the game of lawyers.”

His platform includes a return of the American entrepreneurial spirit, debt reduction and improved domestic energy production.

Chisholm plans to stay in motels at night, but will carry a sleeping bag with him as well. “I’m pretty sturdy. I’ll wear some good footwear and dress in layers,’’ Chisholm said. He hopes to average 15 to 20 miles a day.

Chisholm’s previous bid for local office was as a Green Party candidate for the board of supervisors in Arlington in 2010.

Efforts such as Chisholm’s are not uncommon.

Quentin Kidd, a political scientist from Christopher Newport University, said such efforts “are designed to attract attention and demonstrate seriousness of purpose for a candidate who has little name recognition and little establishment support in the party. They are not completely unconventional. In fact, over the last several months Rick Santorum visited every county in Iowa as a way to demonstrate his seriousness about winning Iowa. A lot of candidates set goals of knocking on thousands of doors … especially in New Hampshire. Many, many candidates take bus tours. These are populist-rooted ways of demonstrating to the common voter that you are serious and willing to do something extraordinary.”