Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 15, 1993 TAG: 9304150075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ROBB WORKS ON RENEWING DEMOCRATIC CONNECTIONS
LOOKING TO HEAD OFF or beat back a challenge for his party's nomination next year, U.S. Sen. Charles Robb is reintroducing himself to the Democratic activists he's avoided in recent years.
This is where the road to Armageddon led Wednesday: The steamy sun room of the Holiday Inn-Civic Center, where Democratic Party activists sat reminiscing about elections now almost two decades old.
All in all, a pretty peaceful day, which is probably just fine with Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., because that's how many of his days are being spent this spring of '93 - in reunions with Democratic activists around the state.
In many ways, Robb at age 54 has become an elder statesman before his time, often remembered at party gatherings but rarely seen.
For the past few years, he's intentionally kept a low profile around Virginia, avoiding political events where his presence might embarrass or distract from other politicians while he waited for the legal tangle involving the illegally taped cellular telephone conversation of his nemesis, Gov. Douglas Wilder, to untie itself.
Now it finally has, with three former aides and two Virginia Beach businessmen pleading guilty to minor charges, but Robb himself going unindicted. The legal cloud lifted, Robb now looks out on a political landscape much changed from 1988, when his campaign for the Senate was so effortless it seemed more like a holiday stroll.
Wilder is loudly threatening to challenge Robb for the Democratic nomination next year; Richmond lawyer Sylvia Clute says the campaign may be so ugly she might be able to emerge as a compromise nominee. And on the Republican side, former Iran-Contra figure Oliver North is working up GOP crowds into a crusade-like frenzy.
The state's most quoted political analyst, the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato, has called the developing 1994 Senate campaign "Armageddon."
So this is how Robb prepares for his coming political Judgment Day: He's racheted up his public schedule - Wednesday, he was in the Roanoke Valley meeting with officials at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem and holding a forum on health care.
And in every community, he squeezes in a meeting with local Democratic activists, the types of folks who'll likely control the nominating process next year, the types of folks Robb hasn't seen in years.
Advance woman Susan Swecker makes no bones about Robb's predicament.
"This is about reconnecting with Democrats," she said.
Reconnecting? "He's not been able to get out the last couple years because of all the controversy," she said plainly.
That's a tender point with some Democratic activists. "Of course, he's obviously had a lot on his mind with the grand jury," said Warren Campbell, a former Roanoke County Democratic chairman. Nevertheless, "he needs to get around more."
That's what Wednesday's get-together over lunch with about 40 Roanoke Valley Democrats was about. No major policy announcements, just a chance to pump up the crowd about this year's upcoming campaign for governor - oh yes, that - but more importantly, a chance to shake hands and make eye contact again.
"This is a touchy-feely thing," said Debbie Jordan, the Botetourt County Democratic activist who helped organize the event.
That it was for sure. Robb - once called an oversized Ken doll for his mannequin-like campaign skills - went from table to table, slapping backs and hugging old friends with gusto.
The lunch had the feel of a reunion with a long-lost cousin. By definition, the party activists invited Wednesday were those most likely to support Robb next year. Still, the mood was distinctly warmer than it often is for visiting candidates, and something more than the spring weather seemed to be at work.
For many Democrats, it was history. The stories about the sex-and-drugs parties at Virginia Beach, the allegations of an affair with beauty queen Tai Collins, the flap over the taping of Wilder, all those don't seem to matter much to many party activists.
"I think they're willing to give Chuck the benefit of the doubt," Campbell said. Why? "We owe Chuck a whole lot more than we do Doug Wilder. Chuck, he won the governorship in '81 after a long drought."
And the Democrats have been in power ever since.
But just in case that's ancient history to some Democrats, Roanoke lawyer John Edwards made a point of reminding them in his introduction.
"One person is more responsible than any other for the emergence of the Democratic Party in the 1980s," Edwards said, launching into a brief account of Robb's rise to power, dating to his election as lieutenant governor in 1977.
"Chuck Robb in 1982 to 1986 was a very good governor, a very popular governor. Let's remind ourselves that he was more responsible than anyone else for making us proud to be Democrats."
As political speeches go, it sounded more like the introduction for someone the party regulars had, well, forgotten about. Edwards shrugged. "Sometimes people have short memories in politics," he said.
And the road to Election Day can be long.
Keywords:
POLITICS