Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 26, 1992 TAG: 9203260404
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY L. GARLAND
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
First there was Doug the enfant terrible of Virginia politics. Then, there was the Wilder who claimed his own place in the sun, demanding the nomination for lieutenant governor in 1985 despite the shaking heads and quaking boots of his party's establishment.
But once ensconced in the state's second-highest office, he treated us to the amusing spectacle of leading guerrilla raids against the backsides of those who ranked just above him in the Democratic pecking order, Gov. Gerald Baliles and former Gov. Charles Robb.
On the day he assumed the governorship, however, all seemed forgiven, and he stood as the repository of as much good will as enjoyed by any modern chief executive. Then, there was a surprising new twist in the plot. It seemed as if the elixir of power was too heady, and the governor spent much of his first two years in office dismantling everything he had built up.
In his latest incarnation, it is the governor as "citizens' lobbyist," keeping a lonely vigil in his office, separating the wheat from the chaff. And staying home seems to be good for the governor's political health. From an approval rating that reached a low just above 20 percent, Wilder has rebounded dramatically.
That's the wonderful thing about holding the office of president or governor. Whatever a chief executive deigns to do is almost automatically news, and unlike a mere legislator who must bring many others to his thinking before anything happens, a head of state has the power to say yea or nay.
While the governor will sign the vast majority of bills passed by the '92 assembly, he has already chosen two high-profile issues to veto and several others may follow before the legislature reconvenes April 15 to consider all gubernatorial vetoes and amendments.
The first bill that called forth the governor's veto pen was a natural for anyone seeking to rebuild his own popularity at the expense of those who've never enjoyed very much. That was the pet bill of state bankers and Lt. Gov. Don Beyer's economic recovery commission to eliminate the 25-day, interest-free grace period on credit-card purchases.
The governor presented his veto in terms of consumer protection, and there can't be much doubt as to the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of Virginians that use the cards. They will agree with Wilder's contention that "those [the bankers] who can afford to give up something should do so for the sake of our citizens." Beyer had pitched the issue as an economic-development question. That is, by eliminating the interest-free grace period, Virginia banks would not be placed at a competitive disadvantage with those in 44 other states that are free to charge interest from the date of purchase.
Without the law, proponents argued, Virginia banks might charter their credit-card operations in more obliging states, and out-of-state banks would bypass Virginia when considering new bases of operation. After Wilder announced his veto, Signet Bank said that it might move its credit-card operation elsewhere.
But the issue may be one of less than epic import. Even if Wilder's veto is overridden, it doesn't seem likely that banks and other issuers will rush out and impose interest from day one. Those that do are almost certain to be undercut by those that don't, for - contrary to the logic of demagogues - this is one of the most competitive enterprises in the country, and can be safely left to the free market.
Wilder also took aim at another industry that would have a hard time winning a popularity contest when he vetoed the bill allowing trucks to operate legally at the same 65 mph speed granted cars on rural interstates. Again, the governor positioned himself as one who protects the ordinary citizen from the machinations of powerful interests.
Rumor has it that Wilder will also veto the bill requiring a doctor to notify a parent (or judge) when a girl under 18 seeks an abortion. That would keep him in good order with the liberal activists who have the most to say about nominations in the Democratic Party, and keep open the road to Washington.
While the governor intimated that the $443-million bond issue for roads tied to an increase in the gasoline tax might not find favor with him, capitol sources profess themselves unsure as to which way the cat will jump.
If Wilder vetoes the lot, my guess is that he will be sustained. Only the credit-card bill commanded the kind of near-unanimous support that would appear to give a veto override a fighting chance. But how many Democratic legislators are going to side with bankers against consumers and a governor of their own party?
A cynic might see calculation and opportunism in the governor's actions, and could even go so far as to say that he took up his celebrated tax on hospitals and doctors not because he thought he could win it, but because he knew that the little people whose faith he had lost would be cheering him on.
As he told the United Steelworkers in Newport News while going 'round the circle campaigning for his health-providers tax, "All I've known is fighting . . . . We're not going to retreat because the health of Virginians is worth fighting for."
To which one could add, so is the political health of one little old Virginian whose initials happen to be LDW.
by CNB