Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 9, 1992 TAG: 9201090581
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
WILDER'S ATTITUDE CONCERNED STAFFERS
Joseph Johnson, campaign manager to Gov. Douglas Wilder, spent Wednesday in Annapolis lining up pledges from 10 Maryland lawmakers to endorse Wilder's presidential campaign.In Richmond, longtime gubernatorial adviser Paul Goldman finished work on an essay about Wilder's plans for America and faxed it to the New York Times at mid-afternoon.
In Charleston, S.C., Councilman Robert Ford spoke excitedly about his plans to turn out "3,000 people" for a Wilder rally Friday night in his city.
"We're going to win the state for him," Ford pledged. "Every black person should support him, because he is the only person in the race who could bring them respect and dignity."
From Manchester, N.H., to Atlanta, Wilder loyalists were hard at work planning a presidential campaign that few knew would end before the day was done.
But even as they scurried to fine-tune television ads and schedule events for a four-day Southern tour, some Wilder intimates were worried that their candidate seemed increasingly detached from the quixotic campaign he launched with fanfare four months ago.
Several said privately that, even as Wilder bore the brunt of in-state criticism for his presidential travels, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get him to focus on campaign plans and commitments.
"We can't even get through to him [on the telephone]," said an exasperated Mame Reiley, Wilder's New Hampshire coordinator, earlier in the week.
And a frustrated fund raiser complained several days ago, "He just isn't making the phone calls." The man, a longtime Wilder backer, said he was at a loss to explain why Wilder seemed so unwilling to telephone potential donors when campaign coffers were critically low.
Like others in the campaign, Reiley learned of Wilder's decision less than two hours before Virginians at large. Reiley was called by Goldman about 6:15 p.m. Goldman, Wilder's political soulmate through two statewide races, learned the news at about 5:30 p.m., she said.
Johnson, who was working the Maryland statehouse, said it was almost 6:30 p.m. before he returned an "urgent" call to Goldman. "I'm very disappointed," he said, but not totally surprised.
On several occasions in recent weeks, he said, he and Wilder had discussed the impact on Virginia of the campaign. "I'd briefed him privately," he said.
While Johnson said he did not encourage Wilder to withdraw, "I said what he accomplished as governor might be washed away if he had a bad [legislative] session."
Glenn Davidson, Wilder's press secretary, would not say when Wilder reached his decision. "I don't have a specific day or time. All I can tell you is that he gave me sufficient time to plan for this," he said.
Davidson said Wilder "came to the conclusion that he could not do both well, and that he needed to devote all his time and attention to the state."
At Wilder's national headquarters in Vienna, workers learned that the campaign was folding only with Wilder's announcement at the end of his speech. Moments later, a supporter answered the telephone tentatively. "Wilder for, uh . . . governor," he said.
Keywords:
POLITICS