Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 28, 1992 TAG: 9203280093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Shortly after Rockingham County's Republican meeting put him over the top Thursday night, Bob Goodlatte was faced with one of those lonely, gut- wrenching choices that often confronts politicians on the campaign trail.
Burger King or Rally's?
There hasn't been much glamour on the Republican side of the Sixth District congressional race.
Goodlatte, a Roanoke lawyer, has had only token opposition. To many party activists, his nomination has been a foregone conclusion ever since he announced his candidacy in December, only a few days after Rep. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke, announced his retirement.
So Goodlatte let Rockingham County's GOP mass meeting Thursday night pass with a minimum of ceremony - even if the delegates Rockingham selected did, by his count, push him well past what he needs to win the nomination.
But Goodlatte is in danger of being overshadowed during the next few weeks. There's a hotly contested three-way race for the Democratic nomination under way, and the Democrats' rush to line up supporters to attend their party's mass meetings on April 11 and 13 - the critical step in selecting convention delegates - likely will dominate the political news.
So Friday morning, Goodlatte was back in Roanoke, talking about the congressional campaign that lies ahead to any reporter who would listen.
It's a campaign that will take place against the backdrop of a sputtering economy and an electorate in a sour mood toward Washington.
All three Democratic candidates - John Edwards, John Fishwick and Steve Musselwhite - repeat the word "change" as if it were their mantra.
It's a word Goodlatte will use a lot, too - and he contends as a Republican he's in a better position to personify change.
He signaled Friday that he intends to run against Congress in general. "I think people are very angry about Congress appropriating to itself privileges it's not entitled to, based on its performance and the economy, and then going out an abusing those privileges," Goodlatte said.
"I'm not running against any incumbent, but I think the Democrats in Congress are very much to blame," Goodlatte said. "They've controlled the House for 37 years. Any Democrats who are elected are only going to support the perpetuation of this problem. I think voters are going to vote for someone to fight for change.
"Anyone who runs on the Democratic ticket will have a hard time making that case. You're more likely to see change by electing more Republicans to Congress."
Democrats hope to capitalize on voters' fears about the economy. But Goodlatte believes economic worries will help Republicans instead. He'll be talking about ways to spark economic growth by offering tax incentives and removing "the regulatory burden" on business. Democrats, he contends, want to "micro-manage" the economy.
"There's a tremendous amount of banking business lost to foreign competitors because the government has overreacted to the problems of the savings and loans and made it impossible for banks to offer loans on the same basis as foreign competitors," he said. "I'm familiar with one large loan lost by a Virginia bank to a foreign bank because the regulations made it impossible to make a very safe, very secure loan."
He apparently hopes that issue will strike a chord in the Roanoke Valley, where Dominion Bankshares is a major employer.
Whichever Democrat emerges as Goodlatte's opponent, the contrast between the two will be striking.
All three Democrats condemn what they call the "trickle-down economics" of the Reagan-Bush presidencies, which they say has reduced the standard of living for middle-class Americans. Goodlatte calls that "demagoguery."
"I think the American dream is still strong but is being suppressed by a belief that runs rampant in the Democratic Party, that you can have the American dream by having the government provide it for you," Goodlatte said.
"That's what changed in the early 1980s [when conservatives held a majority in Congress] and made it possible for many Americans to enjoy an increased standard of living. It's only when we removed some of the incentives, such as the Tax Reform Act of 1986, that we've seen the economy suffer."
There is one small, but noisy, obstacle to Goodlatte's coasting between now and the Republican convention May 16 - opponent Donna Vance Erikson of Lynchburg.
She hasn't been presenting slates of supporters for the local mass meetings to elect as convention delegates, the mass meeting equivalent of not even being on the ballot.
For that reason, Republican regulars have dismissed her candidacy. By Goodlatte's count, of the 268 delegates chosen so far, 236 endorse him, 16 back Erikson and another 16 are either uncommitted or unknown.
It takes 215 to win the nomination.
But Erikson lashed out at Goodlatte's declaration of victory, calling it a "farce." She won't offer her own delegate count, saying "delegates don't like being counted like sheep."
But she contends many of the delegates Goodlatte has recruited will abandon him once they hear her speak at the convention. The Lynchburg businesswoman cites polls that show the public finds Republican women the most believable candidates and contends that she, not Goodlatte, can make the best case for the much talked-about "change."
"My opponent typifies the status quo," she said.
by CNB