Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992 TAG: 9201160380
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY L. GARLAND
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
GOV. WILDER GETS ONE MORE CHANCE WITH VIRGINIANS
THE GOOD ship Democrat was just pulling away from the dock when one distracted passenger jumped back to shore at the last possible moment he could do so without falling ignominiously into the drink. The passenger, of course, was our own peripatetic Gov. Douglas Wilder, who chose the conclusion of his address to the 1992 General Assembly to announce his withdrawal from the presidential campaign. The reaction of legislators and voters could be summed up in four very unkind words, "It was about time."In fairness, nothing that he did upon that unmemorable scene became him half so much as the leaving of it. He now enters the land of beginning again.
Perhaps the kindest thing that could be said of Wilder's presidential quest was that he had the courage against all odds to do it, and knew when to call it quits. In plain truth, however, he hadn't thought through the message he sought to deliver, and was in no way prepared to put in place the awesome logistics of a national campaign. In that sense, his quixotic journey could be put down to mere egotism run amok - except when you consider the qualifications of the other five announced Democrats.
Only a fool would sit in smug and settled judgment upon this unaccountable man. There are those who believed that Wilder's real game was to position himself for the vice presidency. That would seem all but impossible now. Except in the truly desperate circumstance of 1984 - when Walter Mondale threw caution to the wind and tapped Rep. Geraldine Ferraro - Democrats have generally made calculations of sober realism when choosing vice presidential candidates. Witness Kennedy and Johnson; Humphrey and Muskie; Carter and Mondale; Dukakis and Bentsen. It's just hard to imagine any presidential candidate in 1992 who would be willing to risk Wilder.
But he will depart the governor's chair at 12 noon on the second Saturday in January, 1994 - just in time to enter the campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate against none other than his old friend and trusted comrade, Charles Spittal Robb.
If any politician of standing is in more hot water than Wilder it would have to be Robb. Why, just the other day - in sworn testimony before a federal grand jury that's looking into possible crimes attendant upon release of an intercepted telephone conversation between Wilder and a prominent Tidewater developer - Robb's former press secretary flatly contradicted the senator's repeated protestations of innocence in disseminating the contents of the illegally recorded call.
Robb's situation is that amazing rare case where it would constitute wanton excess for any critic to add so much as an additional comma. Everything that could happen to him already has, and if he goes back to the Senate now it will have to mean that his opponents, whomever they may be, are perceived as being more impossible than he is.
That Robb might be more than mildly concerned about the possibility of facing Wilder in a contest for the Democratic nomination was underscored by the senator's quick action in making public a private pledge given him by Wilder - to the effect that the governor would leave Robb's Senate seat alone. When asked about that, Wilder said that while he wasn't running for anything he wouldn't forswear anything. So much for their periodic proclamations of undying devotion.
If published polls be gospel, Wilder's quandary is that he now sits lower in the boat of public esteem and confidence even than Robb. One recent poll gave him a record-low approval rating of only 23 percent. But that was taken prior to his excellent presentation over statewide, prime-time television in his "state of the state" address, and his graceful exit from the presidential race.
We may now expect a quick recovery from those extremely low ratings, and he has two years remaining to repair the worst of the damage that he has done to his image in the eyes of many Virginians who expected great things from him. All Wilder really needs is to start standing for something positive, and the elements of that will shortly fall into place.
In his recommendations to the legislature, Wilder called for an absurdly low bond issue of only $200 million to catch up long-deferred building projects at state colleges and other agencies. Lt. Gov. Don Beyer and the Democrats controlling the General Assembly are thinking more in terms of $1 billion. But the final amount doesn't really matter too much. Within reason, whatever is put out - if properly framed and spread around the state - will be approved by voters. In political terms, the important thing is that Wilder will be perceived between spring and autumn as leading toward the realization of this wonderful blessing, and great will be the huzzahs when it comes to pass.
And the governor is clearly angling to have the legislature "force" a tax increase of some kind upon him, by way of restoring some of the cuts that have been made. Even the Republicans played into Democrats' hands by demanding a series of statewide hearings on the 1992-94 budget. Predictably, these were made-to-order forums for touching appeals by those favoring more spending and higher taxes.
One legislator, Sen. Elliot Schewel of Lynchburg, who for years has masked a devotion to liberal ideals to stay in good odor with a generally conservative district, went loco after one of these tent shows. Schewel told the press that he sensed "almost an enthusiasm for the necessity of raising taxes."
In politics, it is always the perception that counts. If the press and voters perceive that Wilder is leading the state toward a righting of wrongs and a filling of needs, it won't take long for those polls to turn around. With a little humility and some help from the Federal Reserve, Wilder will find that what worked against him for the past two years can work for him. And the difference between a governor and a junior senator is that everything a governor does as head-of-state commands center stage.
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POLITICS