Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507030079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Fairfax County Del. Jay O'Brien was looking for a big-name Republican to headline the fund-raiser kicking off his re-election campaign this spring, but figured his supporters were too familiar with the two GOP congressmen from Northern Virginia to be impressed by them.
So O'Brien turned instead to the second-term congressman from Roanoke who seemed to be making a name for himself as a rising star in the Republican ranks in Congress - Bob Goodlatte.
``I called Bob up and asked, `Would you be able to appear for me?' He said, `I can do better than that. I can get Henry Hyde,''' the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a favorite figure among conservatives.
Sure enough, Hyde was a big hit with the Fairfax County Republicans. ``He drew in a lot of people I would not normally see,'' O'Brien says, so many people that the state legislator raised an astounding $20,000 in one night.
Now, O'Brien says, Fairfax County GOP activists are abuzz. ``People are hearing about the great event I had, and they know who put it together. I owe Bob. People up here in Fairfax County know who Bob Goodlatte is now. In the circles I travel in, I'm making no secret of the loyalty I owe him.''
Scarcely three years ago, Goodlatte was so little-known in his home city that Democratic opponents ridiculed him as practically a nobody. Now the 6th District congressman is emerging as not just a key lieutenant of Newt Gingrich's Republican majority in Washington, but also a major political force in his own right in Virginia.
Within the 6th District, Goodlatte helps recruit and advise Republican candidates, from county boards of supervisors to the General Assembly. He's also branching out across the state, helping raise money and campaign for candidates from the Southwest Virginia coalfields to the Washington suburbs.
Just last month, he set up his own political action committee, the Committee for Republican Leadership, to serve as a vehicle for raising and disbursing funds to GOP candidates.
That's not all. Goodlatte's top aide, Tim Phillips, is equally busy in GOP circles as a part-time adviser to Republican candidates across Virginia and an unpaid trainer for the Christian Coalition in ``candidate schools'' nationwide - most recently in Georgia in May.
``What you see are the outlines of the Goodlatte machine being built,'' says Gail Nardi, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Democratic Party.
Republicans are more generous in their terminology, but essentially agree in their assessment: Goodlatte is becoming a figure to be reckoned with.
``The word out on the hustings is that there may be a draft effort to get him to run for the Senate next year,'' says Charles Cunningham, a former National Rifle Association lobbyist who's now director of voter education for the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition. ``I think that's a lot of wishful thinking, not by him or any of his people, but a result of the dissatisfaction with the other candidates. Still, it's a testament to his effectiveness that some people would even consider him.''
\ Goodlatte's influence is most visible in some of the Republican candidates for the General Assembly in the 6th District this year. His inner circle constitutes much of the GOP slate in Western Virginia:
Trixie Averill, who's challenging Del. Richard Cranwell of Roanoke County, was a member of Goodlatte's steering committee during his inaugural run for Congress in 1992 and part of his ``kitchen cabinet'' of advisers.
Newell Falkinburg, who's challenging Del. Clifton ``Chip'' Woodrum of Roanoke, was on Goodlatte's fund-raising committee.
Steve Landes, who hopes to succeed the retiring Del. Pete Giesen, R-Augusta, worked directly for Goodlatte for 21/2 years, running his district offices.
And then there's state Sen. Brandon Bell of Roanoke County, a close friend in whose political fortunes Goodlatte takes an even keener interest. It was no accident that when Bell declared his re-election this spring, Phillips was on hand to make sure the event went smoothly.
These candidates make no secret of Goodlatte's efforts on their behalf. ``He definitely is going to be involved in my campaign,'' Landes says. In fact, Landes says Goodlatte already has helped, by making phone calls to win over some Republicans initially reluctant about Landes' bid. ``When a congressman calls somebody, they usually answer the phone,'' Landes says. ``I think it's going to benefit me tremendously.''
Goodlatte also has been heavily involved in finding Republican candidates for local offices in the district. ``I've heard of candidates running for the Board of Supervisors in Augusta County say, `I've got Bob Goodlatte on my side and he's going to help me,''' Landes says. ``It helps make it easier for the party to recruit people, because they know they're not out there on their own.''
Sometimes it seems Goodlatte turns up at just about every Republican function in the 6th District - whether it's speaking to the Staunton convention that nominated Emmett Hanger for the state Senate, acting as master of ceremonies at a fund-raiser for Averill in Roanoke, or co-sponsoring a fund-raiser for Joel Branscom, the GOP candidate for commonwealth's attorney in Botetourt County.
To some extent, this is standard political work for an officeholder. After all, a congressman faces re-election every two years, so it's in Goodlatte's interest to make sure the Republican Party in his district is well-organized.
But Republicans say Goodlatte goes well beyond the obligatory show-the-flag appearances that Virginia's other congressmen put in.
When fellow GOP officeholders shied away from Oliver North during last year's U.S. Senate race, Goodlatte was an enthusiastic champion on the stump, once jumping onto a bench in the Roanoke City Market to extol North's virtues to the crowd.
Nor has Goodlatte's role been limited to rah-rah rallying of the troops. When he sat down with Averill to persuade her to run, ``He didn't pull any punches,'' she says. He gave her an unvarnished account of what to expect on the campaign trail, but encouraged her to try.
Goodlatte has also ranged beyond his Roanoke-to-Harrisonburg district. He presided over the 1994 state Republican convention that nominated North, a role that boosted his profile considerably among inside-the-Beltway political junkies who followed the proceedings on C-Span.
He campaigned for ``four or five'' Republican congressional candidates around the state and contributed to all six. He is starting to pick up speaking invitations from as far away as Dickenson County in the coalfields and Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. This year, besides finding a speaker for O'Brien's event, Goodlatte co-sponsored a fund-raiser for another candidate in Fairfax County, former Rep. Stan Parris.
He's also giving his top aide a four-month unpaid leave of absence so that Phillips can advise a half-dozen or so General Assembly candidates around the state - including Bell and Landes - plus the leading contender for the GOP's 1997 nomination for lieutenant governor, Northern Virginia businessman Coleman Andrews.
Call Goodlatte a party animal. ``I can tell you he's at every statewide Republican Party event I've gone to,'' O'Brien says.
Goodlatte - who unlike some officeholders came up through the party ranks as a local Republican organizer - says he sees it as his job to help elect ``folks who have the same philosophy I have'' at all levels. ``I think to be effective in elected office, you've got to have people pulling at the oars the same way,'' he says. ``My first two years in Congress, I saw the [Democratic] majority set the agenda and the things I was interested in never came up.''
Now that he's seen a Republican majority at work in Congress, ``I can see what a difference that would make for the Republican Party in Virginia'' to be able to control the General Assembly, he says.
Averill sees Goodlatte's growing political stature as a sign of personal growth. ``I've known Bob for 10 years, since he was the city [Republican Party] chairman. I always thought he was a nice guy but was so quiet - somewhat shy, not dynamic. That's why, when he started making noises about running for Congress, I wanted George Allen to move to the district to run.''
Instead, she says, ``it's just a transformation'' he has gone through. ``You talk about a metamorphosis, he's evolved into probably the most articulate and effective legislator we've seen in the 6th District.''
Most Republicans say the remarkable thing about Goodlatte's party-building efforts is they don't seem to be an overt effort to raise his own profile. ``I don't get the sense that any of this is to build his personal political base,'' says the Christian Coalition's Cunningham. ``My sense is his motive is to advance a conservative opportunity agenda.''
Goodlatte himself said he's looking no further than his House seat. Other political types, though, aren't convinced.
``He's got statewide ambitions. It's so obvious,'' says University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato. ``I think he's got his eye on a Senate seat. He could be the conservative alternative when John Warner's seat comes up in 2002,'' assuming Warner is re-elected next year.
Warner himself suggested as much during a recent speech in Roanoke. "I'm not ready to retire yet from the Senate of the United States, but when I do, I know of no individual in whom I would take greater pride to succeed me in the Senate than Bob Goodlatte," Warner said. "Bob, that's not a nominating speech, just keep it in your profile."
Cunningham agrees Goodlatte has potential for upward mobility. ``I think, given his political stock and age, he can wait as long as he wants or move as quickly as he wants.''
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