DYKE SAYS HE WANTS TO SEE TERRY'S VISION

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

DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993                   TAG: 9301090261
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
DYKE SAYS HE WANTS TO SEE TERRY'S VISION
Secretary of Education James Dyke said Friday that he is not out to wreck the Democratic Party.
But unless Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, who for years has been heir apparent as governor, starts reaching out to Virginians and showing what she believes in, Dyke could throw his name on the ballot by month's end.
"I don't want to see a position paper or anything," Dyke said Friday night at Virginia Tech. "But I just couldn't sit idly by and watch issues not being addressed."
Dyke said his passions are education, fiscal responsibility and health care.
People want to campaign for the Democratic Party, he said, but first they have to know what the party believes in.
They want to hear straight talk, he said. "They are a little tired of people coming in and doing a song and dance."
Dyke said by raising these issues, he hopes that Terry will start talking about her stands and beliefs.
"If she doesn't, then that will factor into what I do," he said.
Dyke has been talking with party leaders for the past few months. He said he feels his chances for winning the party nomination "are increasing on a daily basis. I know it's really late in the Dyke process, but I'm here to make a difference."
Dyke said if Terry does not make clear her visions for the state, "it's time for that car to move aside and let another one get on the track."
Dyke spoke Friday before a group of black leaders from across the state. The group, known as Action Implemention Model, was meeting at Virginia Tech to talk about what problems blacks in Virginia face and to put the finishing touches on a plan to help deal with those problems.
Among the problems, said Oscar Williams, a state officer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, are teen pregnancies, drugs and youth in prison.
One of the solutions, he said, is education.
Dyke spoke passionately to the group on the need for gun control and education. "You need to set agendas," he said. "It's time to be serious and work hard to make a change."
The fight for the black community is not over, Dyke said. "We must continue to move forward or we will see the clock turn back."
And he stressed that parental involvement was a key to the future of black youth.
Between introductions, in which some people jokingly referred to him as "Governor Dyke," the education secretary made reference to the recent focus on his political ambitions.
"This thing has turned into the Goodyear blimp and I have no idea where it's going," Dyke said.
Williams said Dyke's entrance into the Democratic race would make it interesting. But he said many people, including blacks, thought Terry had waited her turn. "It all remains to be seen," Williams said.
Erenest Miller, head of the state NAACP, said an endorsement from Gov. Douglas Wilder would make a huge difference in the black community.
Dyke repeated Friday night that his consideration of running for governor has nothing to do with an ongoing feud between Wilder and Terry.
"I hope there's something we can do to bring that party together," he said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB