Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 6, 1992 TAG: 9201060071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE, MARGARET EDDS and ROB EURE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
WILDER LAYS CLAIM TO BLACK SUPPORT
Admittedly a "backseat observer" to much of the civil rights movement, Gov. Douglas Wilder asserts that he has a greater claim to black votes than any of his Democratic rivals because he prevailed against segregation and rose to the Governor's Mansion."I look at all the Democratic candidates," Wilder said in an interview last week. "I don't think you have any of them that were to the manner born." But, he added, "They never had legal sanction to denial [of their rights], and I have."
Wilder, whose presidential campaign hinges on cementing black support, said he has more empathy with and better policies for disadvantaged people than do his opponents.
"I know that poverty can be overcome, that discrimination can be eliminated, and that opportunities can be taken advantage of," he said. "And that's why [I] serve somewhat as a living example, not just for black people but for poor people."
With the first presidential primary six weeks away, Wilder, the nation's first black elected governor, offered a broad defense of a candidacy that many Virginians oppose and many national experts say is floundering. He said he would not have run if the economy had been better and his role as governor had not been limited largely to cutting budgets.
He expressed frustration over his historically low standing in Virginia opinion polls, attributing it to a "double standard" by the media and a sentiment among voters that he should be "happy and satisfied to be governor."
Wilder faulted the news media for being overly attentive to his use of the state helicopter for personal trips and for seeking access to his telephone records. He said other Virginia governors have not been subjected to such scrutiny. Asked if he thought the "double standard" was based on race, he said: "You'll have to tell me. I don't know what it is."
Wilder also took strong exception to suggestions that he has not been devoting enough time to Virginia. "What has Doug Wilder done that he shouldn't have done, and what hasn't he done that he should have done as it relates to the policies of Virginia substantively?" he asked. "What laws would you have liked to have seen enforced that he didn't enforce?"
Even so, Wilder was unclear about how much time he would spend in Richmond while the General Assembly is in session during the next two months. At one point, he downplayed the importance of the governor being at the Capitol during much of the session. At another, he said, "The public would expect me to be here and I'll have to be here." Still later, he said he would "play it by ear."
"I've tried to put in as much time as I could now with agencies and department heads and secretariats to have things structured," Wilder said. "I feel pretty good about where we are in the state. If anything suffers it will be the presidency, because my commitment is to the commonwealth."
Despite fund-raising problems and a lackluster showing in national polls, Wilder expressed confidence that he could emerge as a leader in the field of six Democrats.
"There aren't any giants out there - trust me," he said. "I look at my colleagues - they're nice people, don't misunderstand me. But they're not possessed of any great ideas to the extent that they run light years ahead of anybody."
Wilder, who scored his historic 1989 gubernatorial victory by capturing overwhelming black support and a substantial minority of white voters, acknowledged the difficulty of duplicating that feat nationally.
In Virginia, Wilder built strong white support based on his 20-year record in state government, including a term as lieutenant governor. But nationally, he said it is a "valid observation" that many whites don't think he has been governor long enough to be elected president.
"I think a lot of it is that people just don't know me nationally," he said, recalling that Franklin Roosevelt was elected president during his first term as governor of New York.
As for blacks, Wilder said he is confident he will receive overwhelming support despite his limited involvement in the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and '60s.
Unlike his Virginia campaign, where he scrupulously avoided references to race, Wilder has focused his early presidential efforts on black votes. He has made deteriorating race relations and President Bush's veto of a 1990 civil rights bill a major theme.
That agenda may have contributed to a description of Wilder as a civil rights lawyer by a number of black supporters. Asked about that, Wilder said he'd "never laid claim to being a civil rights lawyer," but added that he has never quarreled with such descriptions.
Wilder said his involvement in the movement was largely limited to defending some protesters who were arrested and serving as registered agent for the state chapter of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Asked to name his most significant contributions to civil rights, Wilder cited two legislative accomplishments in the 1970s: He fought for the appointment of James E. Sheffield as the state's first black circuit judge and promoted fair housing legislation. But, he added, "I don't know that I could come up with anything that says, `But for me, this would not have happened.' "
Wilder said he was more interested in building his legal practice in the early 1960s than in protesting. "I was really trying to get my feet on the ground as a lawyer," he said, adding that he wanted to be "looked upon as a lawyer who could cut the cloth at every angle, not just a civil rights lawyer.
"I certainly don't want you to think that I'm comparing myself to Thurgood Marshall or Oliver Hill, but they didn't demonstrate [either]," he said. "I wanted to be like them." Marshall, a former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and Hill, a Richmond lawyer, were pre-eminent civil rights attorneys.
Even without strong civil rights credentials, Wilder said his election as governor makes him a natural recipient of black support across the nation. "It's almost axiomatic in some quarters," he said. "It establishes an immediate identity in many parts of black America."
But in trying to expand beyond the black base, Wilder acknowledged that he needs to do more to distinguish himself on issues. The one major policy announcement he has made - a commitment to a middle income tax break - has been supported in different forms by most of his Democratic rivals. Wilder pledged to unveil policy statements in the next mon on health care and for feeding poor people.
Noting a recent Boston newspaper article that he said referred to the Democratic candidates as "six white boys talking about the same thing," Wilder laughed, "I'm obviously going to have to use more makeup."
As for Virginia, Wilder expressed regret that he may be remembered as a governor who did little more than cut the budget. "I would have loved to have done more," he said. "Realism dictates otherwise.
Keywords:
POLITICS