'Dukes of Hazzard' star seeks political seat in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va.- Ben Jones, a former congressman who played grease monkey Cooter on TV&#39;s &#34;The Dukes of Hazzard,&#34; is working in Virginia to jump start a political career that ran off the road 10 years ago in Georgia.<br> <br> Jones, 60, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination to challenge freshman Republican Rep. Eric Cantor this fall. Analysts say he has a tough task ahead of him in the GOP-leaning district.<br> <br> Jones describes himself as &#34;a Harry Truman, Harry Byrd Democrat,&#34; uneasy with the more liberal bent of his party nationally. He said he supports a lower capital gains tax, the death penalty and rights of gun ownership.<br> <br> He admits opposing a constitutional amendment to ban burning the U.S. flag, but bristles at the suggestion that it makes him less patriotic.<br> <br> &#34;I&#39;d probably beat the crap out of somebody I saw burning an American flag,&#34; he said. &#34;But you don&#39;t gut the Bill of Rights just because you see some nut burning the flag.&#34;<br> <br> In 1988, Jones unseated Rep. Pat Swindall, R-Ga., and was re-elected in 1990. He lost the Democratic primary in 1992.<br> <br> Jones, who grew up in Portsmouth, settled in Rappahannock County in 1998. He has opened Cooter&#39;s Place, a restaurant, bluegrass hangout and &#34;Dukes of Hazzard&#34; memorabilia emporium in Virginia&#39;s conservative Blue Ridge Mountains. He recently opened another Cooter&#39;s in Gatlinburg, Tenn.<br> <br> Cantor, 38, is a Richmond lawyer and pro-business conservative. He won his seat in Congress in 2000 in a rout over a little-known Democrat, but only after a narrow primary victory.<br> <br> &#34;I&#39;ve demonstrated a record as a common-sense conservative,&#34; Cantor said. &#34;I&#39;m going to run a positive campaign based on what&#39;s important to Virginians: national security, economic security and Social Security.&#34;<br>