Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 6, 1993 TAG: 9304060380
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
MILLER DELIVERING GOP WAKE-UP CALL
This is the first in a series of profiles of the candidates for the Republican nomination for governor. Profiles of George Allen and Earle Williams will be published in coming weeks.
HE HAD A HIT rockabilly single in the 1950s, but that's not the only thing unconventional about this longtime Republican legislator.
They were his party's elite, folks for whom most candidates for governor make it a point to bend over backward. But Del. Clinton Miller quickly abandoned all niceties last month when he spoke to the Republican State Central Committee in Roanoke.
Speaking to a collection of well-to-do, white men and women in business suits and smart dresses, Miller delivered a stern lecture on why he believes the GOP has fallen out of touch with voters.
"As I look out on this room, I don't see Virginia," said Miller, noting that the state is 18 percent black. "I don't see any truck drivers, miners or mechanics. To be a majority party we need to identify with these people. You can't just look out on an audience and just see yourselves."
Republicans looking at Clint Miller this spring hardly see themselves either. At a time when many believe the party is becoming increasingly captive of the religious right, Miller argues that the GOP is out of touch with the electorate.
A tall, deep-voiced man, Miller gave up a promising career as a country and rockabilly singer in the 1960s to pursue law and politics in rural Shenandoah County. After 22 years in the House of Delegates, he is regarded as one of the most talented and personally popular lawmakers - and perhaps the legislature's best orator.
And, as his gubernatorial campaign bears out, he's a populist who likes to defy conventional wisdom and challenge business as usual. "Clint is a natural contrarian - a real rebel," said former Republican state Sen. Ray Garland of Roanoke. "He's a highly intelligent, show-biz type who's not afraid of mixing it up."
The stiff reception given Miller by the GOP establishment is typical of the way Republican activists have greeted his long-shot candidacy. Heading towards the June 4-5 GOP convention, he badly trails his two opponents, garnering only a smattering of delegate support.
Miller's campaign is designed to make Republicans feel uncomfortable. He warns that unless Republicans abandon their traditional opposition to such things as abortion rights and gun control, the party is destined to lose its fourth straight gubernatorial election this fall.
Miller, 53, is hardly a conventional Republican. He ardently defends abortion rights and will challenge the GOP next month to remove a pro-life plank from its platform. He strongly supported legislation this winter to limit Virginians to one handgun purchase a month and said he could back further gun-control provisions, including a three-day waiting period.
Miller argues that front-running Republican candidate George Allen is unelectable because he opposes gun control and because his position on abortion has changed. In 1991, Allen said he would oppose any change to Virginia's abortion laws; last year he said he would consider any new restrictions that the U.S. Supreme Court would allow.
"It will be difficult, at best, for George in November because of the way he vacillates," Miller said. "His views on public policy are vastly out of touch with Virginia voters. George is a good sloganeer, but I doubt that he fully comprehends the issues."
Miller is hoping Allen will be denied a first-ballot victory and that the convention will be thrown open. He says his other adversary for the nomination - McLean businessman Earle Williams - simply lacks the political experience to be an effective governor.
"I respect Earle's business acumen," he said. "But he has a misguided notion that government operates in a vacuum. He doesn't understand that being a governor isn't the same thing as being a CEO. In business, a CEO can say `jump' and the employees say `how high?' But a governor can't manage his relations with the General Assembly that way."
Miller, a native North Carolinian, moved to Shenandoah County when he was 9. As a student at American University in Washington, D.C., he supported himself by singing in nightclubs. In 1958, he recorded "Bertha Lou," which rose to No. 41 on the Billboard charts.
Miller spent several years pursuing an acting and singing career in New York and performed on several network shows before returning to the university to finish his studies in 1962. Three years later, he earned a law degree from Washington & Lee University.
In the House, Miller has gained a reputation for getting things done. Two years ago, he was rated the most effective Republican in the General Assembly in a poll of legislators, lobbyists, bureaucrats and journalists. He placed 14th overall in the 100-member House, even though GOP lawmakers boycotted the survey.
Miller is best known for his efforts to open the political process in Richmond. He pushed for reforms that require legislative committees to cast recorded votes on all bills, the governor to announce his budget proposals before the start of General Assembly session, and all lawmakers to be elected from single-member districts.
On fiscal matters, Miller is deeply conservative. He argues that Gov. Douglas Wilder's budget cuts of the past three years have not gone deep enough and that the state could eliminate 25 percent of its employees through attrition.
Still, Miller's legislative prowess has not translated into success as a gubernatorial candidate. He acknowledges that he is not well-known to Republican activists. He badly trails Allen and Williams in fund raising.
Miller said that he did not seriously start his campaign until last month, while his opponents have been running hard for more than a year. Pressures to attend to his law practice and legislative duties prevented him from starting earlier, he said.
For now, Miller must hope the front-runner in the race falters. He is circling the state, warning Republicans that Allen represents the kind of conservative orthodoxy that voters have been rejecting.
If Allen wins the nomination "it will say that the Republican Party of Virginia refuses to learn from history," Miller said. "It will say the party is the voice of the few, not the many. It will say the party is content to be the voice of opposition, but not the party of solutions."
\ CLINT MILLER\ GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE\ \ Party: Republican\ \ Age: 53\ \ Born: Ferguson, N.C., May 24, 1939\ \ Profession: Lawyer\ \ Education: American University, undergraduate in government; Washington and Lee University School of Law.\ \ Public Service: Commonwealth's attorney, Shenandoah County, 1968-72; Virginia House of Delegates, 1972 to present.\ \ Personal: Married to Linda Emswiler Miller. Three children, Erin, Leslie and Sean. Brother, Kevin, is a state senator.
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