ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610210099
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PEMBROKE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
For GOP congressional candidate Patrick Muldoon, five minutes is the ideal time.
That was about the length of the speech he gave in May at the 9th District Republican convention, the one that many listeners credited with winning him the candidacy over two other men.
Muldoon, 31, a first-year law student who also has been a farmer and aeronautical engineer, said he was chagrined when nobody ran against Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, in 1986 and 1990. "I definitely wanted to help out if somebody was going to run," he said. "But no one was stepping up. And the thing is I wasn't going to allow him to go unopposed I decided probably mid-February, so I started planning my announcement for spring break."
In March and April, he spoke to Republican delegates in the district. "And since there are 23 localities, that ends up with a lot of speeches. I knew what their ideas were, and what they felt and what they reacted to," he said. And he packed all that into his convention speech.
"I think the most formal thing I've done in public speaking is getting up and reading a little bit in church," he said. "I like to keep mine short and sweet."
He broke that rule when Dave Nutter, the Montgomery County GOP chairman, invited him to expand on his ideas following the convention. He spoke to that group for nearly 20 minutes, after which a senior GOP member approached him and suggested that he had gone on four times longer than he should have.
That, Muldoon said, was the last time he has gone beyond his five-minute speech.
Since then, the affable redhead has been driving his vintage Trooper to festivals, fairs and anywhere else a crowd gathers in the 9th District, introducing himself and shaking hands. "I'm on my third motor in my truck and my second pair of brake pads," he said.
Back in high school, he campaigned for Republican William Wampler, the 9th District congressman narrowly ousted by Boucher in 1982. In college, he campaigned for Giles County Del. Jeff Stafford, who died in 1990. "All the time, I've kept a good eye on politics," he said.
Born in Idaho where his father was earning a master's degree, Muldoon has lived in Giles County on the family farm since age 3. His father taught at Virginia Tech and now teaches part time at New River Community College. His mother was a teacher before becoming special programs administrator for Giles County. "When I hear people talk about education, I know first-hand," Muldoon said.
Megan Muldoon, one of his three sisters and one year ahead of him as a law student at the College of William and Mary, is managing his campaign. Another sister is in Antarctica on a six-month National Science Foundation trip, and the third is a physical therapist in Scotland. His younger brother is a Christiansburg police officer.
Muldoon graduated from Giles High School, where he was nose-guard on a championship junior varsity football team and second-place varsity team, losing to Tazewell in the state semifinals.
"I tried to get an appointment to the Air Force Academy. I wanted to be an astronaut," Muldoon said. "But Rick [Boucher] didn't give me the nomination." He went to Purdue University and later transferred to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he graduated.
"I had to work my way through," he said. "I guarantee you Rick Boucher's never worked for minimum wage, and I have." He also has worked most summers on the family farm. He made his first $1,000 by raising some beef cattle from calves and selling them.
Other work included stints with Hill-Thomas Builders Ltd. when he was home, and a 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift at a freezer warehouse in Florida five days a week when he was in school. That one sometimes made it hard to keep his eyes open during lectures. "A few times, I'd go into class with sunglasses on."
After graduation, he came home and worked another year helping to build residential houses and eventually doing some drafting. He was working in Ellett Valley when his father drove up and suggested that he spend his lunch break visiting a jobs fair at Virginia Tech. There, he met some government representatives who, surprised that he had already graduated, signed him up with the Department of Defense on a materials handling job.
"We did some satellite tracking of Army inventory," he said. His team drew up specifications for purchase and performance characteristics while seeking ways to cut through red tape in buying equipment.
"To buy them through the military process basically doubled the price than if you or I went out to buy it," he said. "And I think the military has streamlined it, so I can just imagine the others."
In 1988, he attended the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico for 10 weeks. "It was a lot of hard work, but it was a lot of fun," he said. That was the summer Lt. Col. Oliver North testified before Congress.
He missed all that, but did have a "North for President" poster given to him by his sister Megan to show North when North appeared on his behalf. North and GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole's daughter, Robin, have been among those who have campaigned in the 9th on Muldoon's behalf.
Muldoon still wanted to be an astronaut, but did not meet the requirements for flight school. He signed up for eight years in the inactive reserves.
He took advantage of a government program that allowed engineers to go to graduate school, attending at night and completing a four-year course of study in two years. He earned his master's in mechanical engineering from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
In 1994, he and other graduate students at Fort Belvoir represented the Army in the McDonnell-Douglas aerospace design competition with other universities and service academies, to design a transport aircraft for the 21st century to deliver a division of Marines and equipment anywhere in the world in 72 hours. They won first place.
When his job was moved to Detroit, Mich., Muldoon decided instead to resign and go to law school. He entered the College of William and Mary a year ago, and took a break from his studies to enter the congressional campaign.
"It's an uphill battle, but in this race we have some of the elements in our favor," Muldoon said. North, in his U.S. Senate bid, and Gov. George Allen both carried the district, he said, and 14 years is a long time for an incumbent who is no longer in the majority party.
Muldoon thought his name recognition had picked up when he introduced himself to someone who did a double take and repeated his name. "The Patrick Muldoon?" asked the person. Muldoon hesitated, and she added: "On Melrose Place?"
"I was riding high there for a minute," Muldoon said with a chuckle.
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: color photo KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS PROFILEby CNB