Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991 TAG: 9103310124
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B/1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
If they had checked, though, they'd have found something fermenting besides the homemade brew.
The election is more than two years away, but the 1993 campaign for governor - at least on the Democratic side - is already starting to froth.
"There's an enormous amount of activity taking place behind the scenes," said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. "It's a major topic for political people, although voters don't notice it."
Republicans, who haven't been able to elect a governor, lieutenant governor or attorney general since 1977, seem bereft of candidates. But Democrats have two contenders already running unofficial campaigns for governor.
The presumptive leader is Mary Sue Terry, the two-term attorney general from Patrick County who earned credits from many party regulars when she passed up a potentially divisive fight for the nomination with Douglas Wilder in 1989.
"Mary Sue Terry seems to be pushing hard to try to get commitments as early as possible to wrap it up," said John Edwards, a Roanoke lawyer who heads the 6th Congressional District Democrats.
"I know she's making phone calls because I've talked to people who say they've received phone calls from her," said Steve Musselwhite, a Vinton insurance executive.
And then there's Beyer, the hotshot car dealer from Northern Virginia who won Democrats' hearts with his come-from-behind win over heavily favored Eddy Dalton in 1989.
Beyer makes it clear he wants to be on the ticket in 1993. Perhaps for re-election. Or perhaps not.
"There are a lot of complicating things," Beyer said. "What stage the children are in their lives. What stage Megan [his wife, a Richmond television reporter] is in her career. How my business is doing. How clear my vision of Virginia as governor is."
But Beyer's calculations definitely do not take into account - at least not directly - the belief that Terry is somehow entitled to the nomination simply because it's "her turn."
"That's not a meaningful argument for me, but it is a meaningful argument for some members of the Democratic Party," he said.
"The most important one is who best can provide the leadership Virginia needs at that time."
There's another not so inconsequential matter, too. If Beyer waits, who knows what the political landscape will look like in 1997?
"Gerald Baliles once told me, in politics, timing is everything," Beyer said. In any case, Beyer figures to be running for something in 1993.
And unlike Terry, who has the attorney general's office to manage, Beyer has the freedom to spend as many as four or five days each week on the road.
Most of his appearances, Beyer observed, aren't directly related to politics. His swing last week through Western Virginia was typical: A Chamber of Commerce meeting in Radford Tuesday, an economic development agency dinner in Natural Bridge Wednesday, a League of Older Americans lunch and a Jaycees dinner in Roanoke Thursday.
But he also made sure he had time to chat with some friends - who paid $500 per couple - at the Marketplace Center under renovation on the City Market.
The event was notable for several reasons. Developer Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, who along with Musselwhite organized the reception, claimed that the $60,000 collected made it the second-biggest political fund-raiser in Roanoke's history.
That assertion is as difficult to prove as it is to disprove. For comparison, though, when a Wilder fund-raiser only weeks before the 1989 election netted $75,000, Saunders claimed that was the biggest fund-raiser in Roanoke history.
Historic or not, this was an impressive haul for Beyer, coming as it did more than two years before the election.
"All we're doing here tonight is we're getting a war chest," Saunders said. "Nobody knows what we're going to do. Not even Don knows what he's going to do."
Just as impressive was the "who's who" crowd of Roanoke Valley business leaders who turned out - people such as Roanoke Electric Steel founder John Hancock, Grand Piano chairman George Cartledge Sr. and Salem businessman Cabell Brand.
In a brief talk, Beyer dropped all the right words to quicken the blood of Roanoke boosters. The Hotel Roanoke, a "smart highway" to Blacksburg, the Explore Park - Beyer is in favor of them all.
He singled out Hancock, who chaired a key fund-raising committee during Baliles' 1985 gubernatorial campaign, for praise. "He's like a father to me," Beyer said.
The turnout certainly suggested that the newcomer Beyer has made deep inroads in the business community, a group that has been quite fond of Terry during previous campaigns.
Not everyone at the gathering was automatically a Beyer-for-governor-in-'93 advocate, though. For instance, Beyer was introduced by Vinton Del. Richard Cranwell, who said he signed up with Terry months ago.
But it wasn't hard to find people there who were talking up Beyer for '93.
"Absolutely," Musselwhite said. "I've been in his camp for a long time. I think Don Beyer is one of the most exciting candidates that the state has seen in a lot of years."
Excitement seems to be the essence of Beyer's appeal to Democrats.
"They're going to Beyer because, No. 1, they think he's a star, and No. 2, they're worried that Mary Sue has accumulated problems over her two terms that may cause the party difficulty," Sabato said.
If a Terry-Beyer race develops, it is not likely to break down on ideological lines.
Instead, Sabato said, "it's the old battle of experience versus enchanted youth."
Cranwell's reasons for commiting early to Terry highlight the way many Democrats will make their decisions. "It was a parochial thing, as far as I was concerned. Mary Sue and I served in the House together; we're both Southwest Virginia people."
"This is going to be an `inside baseball' contest - who's owed the most to whom," Sabato said.
But, without any great political differences or personal rivalries at work, it likely will be a friendly contest, Cranwell said.
"There's a little bit of tension, but that's normal," he said. "I think they'll be able to sort it out between the two of them without causing any damage."
His introduction of Beyer suggested that much - and more.
"I can tell you," Cranwell said, "if he's not the next governor of Virginia, he'll be the next governor of Virginia."
Keywords:
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by CNB