Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 3, 1993 TAG: 9301040250
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGIE FISHER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
SWITCH TO THE GOP?
A RESPECTED friend and colleague on this newspaper recently said - quite seriously - that he thinks Gov. Doug Wilder may switch parties and become a Republican.I laughed. It seemed far-fetched even for Wilder.
But my friend is no slouch in the prescience department. (He came closer than anybody else I know to predicting the surprise Republican resurgence in the 1991 legislative races, and he's been on the money in foretelling other unseemly political events.) And, indeed, even I can imagine this Godwinesque scenario:
It is 1997. Wilder, having left the governor's mansion in 1994 with his faithful man-servants, Jay Shropshire and Paul Goldman, is happily retired from public service at his skeet-shooting lodge near Charlottesville.
But Virginia's Republicans are gravely concerned about the state's future. In this year's gubernatorial election, it looks as if the Democrats' Don Beyer cannot be beat.
Beyer, serving his second term as lieutenant governor, has made his mark by eliminating poverty throughout Virginia. The formerly poor are crazy about this guy, who has used his popularity and influence to force a lot of expensive, do-gooder programs on state government.
Beyer is brazenly talking of tax increases to finance even more socialistic schemes once he ascends to the governor's office. He must be stopped. But who can stop him?
Republicans, naturally, decide to turn to the man who has helped them so much with conservative causes in the past. They make many pilgrimages to Charlottesville to beseech their hero. He is reluctant, but finally cannot resist their entreaties. Wilder agrees to come out of retirement and run for a second term as governor - as a Republican - to SAVE THE STATE FROM DON BEYER.
OK, it's a stretch. But name one other Democrat in recent memory who's done so much to help Virginia Republicans.
Take, as one example, Wilder's latest budget proposals. No tax increases, of course, from this paragon (it says so right there in Financial World) of fiscal prudence. As for spending, more money for prisons, which Republicans love. A pay increase for most state employees - but not a penny for those scumbag, unionized public-school teachers who keep voting Democratic.
Consider also what Wilder has done to underscore party credibility - the GOP's.
Republicans have contended for years that one-party rule by the likes of Chuck Robb, Jerry Baliles, Hunter Andrews, Joe Gartlan and Billy Robinson was leading to Virginia's ruination. Hasn't Wilder darn-near proved it?
Now comes the coup d'etat:
The governor says Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, his running mate in the last two statewide elections, has shamefully politicized her public office. Further, he alleges, the Democrats' all-but-certain gubernatorial candidate is guilty of a conflict of interest. He is not calling for her resignation, understand, but if there were an ounce of decency in her she would resign at once.
The Republicans, of course, pile on.
Truly, can you think of a better set-up for Earle Williams, George Allen, Clint Miller or whomever is to be the GOP's nominee for governor next year? With more friends like Wilder, Republicans can start now picking out new curtains for the governor's office.
The curious events leading up to all this have been discussed enough in the news columns and by other writers for this Commentary page. But in a nutshell:
Terry, as the lawyer who's supposed to represent state agencies, is highly critical of the way the Virginia Retirement System is being run by Wilder's VRS appointees. Wilder says she's got a conflict of interest and tries to fire her as the VRS lawyer. She says there's no conflict of interest. Plus, he doesn't have the authority to fire her. She brings an unprecedented lawsuit against the governor.
In the first round, she wins; he loses. He pouts anew that she's using her office, and the VRS issue, to politically grandstand as part of her '93 gubernatorial campaign, and - nothing personal, Mar' Sue - she is a lame-brained dame. Citing Virginia precedent, he says she ought to resign.
Last I heard, even recognized constitutional experts weren't sure about the constitutional authority for a governor to fire an attorney general. But fair to say, I think Wilder is right about one thing:
Of course, Terry is using the issue to posture for governor! Just like she earlier used the issue of the VMI male-only admissions policy. Then, you may recall, Wilder was saying it was her duty to defend VMI. And she squirmed out of it, claiming that because the governor had come out against the admissions policy, she had . . . a conflict of interest.
But her inconsistency aside, let's look at his - and the Republicans'.
Wilder didn't resign as lieutenant governor to run for governor - and he started running before his inauguration as lieutenant governor in 1986. He didn't resign as governor to run, albeit briefly, for president. (He said: No problem. He could govern Virginia, by fax, from New Hampshire.)
Had Republican John Warner agreed to oppose Terry for governor next year, would members of his party have demanded he resign his U.S. Senate seat first thing? Where was the hue and cry for George Bush to resign as president before launching a re-election campaign? Or, on the Democrats' side, for President-elect Bill Clinton to step down as governor of Arkansas?
If Wilder is going to give campaign-ethics advice to Terry, will he also urge Beyer to resign as lieutenant governor because Beyer is running for re-election?
But, you may say, that's different. The lieutenant governor's job is just a ceremonial, part-time post that carries no weight as to public policy. Tell that to Beyer - who at the moment is juggling dozens of legislative initiatives that grew out of his various study commissions.
Anyway, if the lieutenant governor is superfluous, why the heck does Virginia need to elect one?
Granted, the attorney general's job does involve public policy, and when an AG is also a political candidate there is a potential for conflict of interest. But that's also true for 140 members of the Virginia General Assembly. You don't see them resigning to seek re-election, do you? And, for that matter, where was Wilder's concern when Terry stayed on as AG (and issued a very favorable opinion on his behalf) in 1989 while she ran for re-election?
Precedent? Here's the dope on that: Two recent Virginia attorneys general - Baliles and Andrew Miller - resigned the office to run for governor; one, Marshall Coleman, didn't. Precedent runs both ways. And it should be noted that attorneys general in other states often run for higher office without resigning the one they have.
So here's my two-cents worth: Terry has been running for governor since she won her first statewide election in 1985. She's made no secret of it; and for seven years everybody in Virginia has known of her agenda. In time, she'll make a decision on the resignation question. It's hers to make.
Meanwhile, she should ignore the fandango of political pressure being played by Republicans and their pal, Doug. She is not obliged to dance to their tune.