Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 10, 1992                   TAG: 9203100302
SECTION: NATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VA. LEADERS DIDN'T THINK IT WAS SUPER

Political observers and leaders in both parties say that's because the 1988 primary here didn't turn out as expected.

Larry Framme, who was state Democratic Party chairman in 1988 and now state secretary of economic development, recalled that the state's participation in the 1988 Super Tuesday was "first advocated as a way to support a Chuck Robb-for-president effort."

But once party leaders became convinced that Robb was not going to run, Framme said, "it was seen as a way to support a Southern moderate."

Instead, said Framme, "as so often happens in politics, it was subject to the law of unintended consequences."

Those consequences were that Jesse Jackson got 45 percent of the vote, followed by Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore and eventual nominee Michael Dukakis tied with 22 percent each.

This year, the state's Democrats and Republicans will hold a series of meetings during the next two months to select delegates to their national conventions.

Joe Elton, executive director of the state GOP, said his party is happy to return to mass meetings and local conventions because "it is a system we're familiar with, and generally we like the results."

Keywords:
POLITICS