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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 3, 1993                   TAG: 9308240761
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GOP FEES

THE MONEY may be enticing, especially for a political organization struggling to overcome financial difficulties.

But it's also corrupting. The Virginia Republican Party should rescind its decision to charge fees to participate in nominating conventions.

If the leadership won't back away from this ill-considered, outrageous policy, then rank-and-file Republicans should back away, quickly, from their party leaders.

Right now, the GOP is charging $35 to every delegate at Saturday's convention in Richmond, where the party will choose its slate of candidates for statewide office. Many local party organizations are charging delegates another $15 to participate.

So it will cost most conventioneers $50 for the privilege of having some say in who will run for governor this fall.

State party Chairman Patrick McSweeney maintains the fee is not excessive. It's not - for anyone who has $50 to spare.

But that is not everyone - not even every Republican. Witness the fact that some GOP candidates are paying the fee for delegates who will support them, and at least one has arranged for other delegates to pay some supporters' fees.

What's most offensive, though, is the principle of the thing, a clear echo of the old racist poll taxes.

The practice suggests Republicans are attaching more importance to raising money than they are to the democratic selection of their candidates.

GOP officials readily admit convention fees will go mainly to fatten their coffers. The party will take in close to half a million dollars from this source.

And, believe it or not, unnamed "senior Republicans" are saying privately that this, at least in part, is what led to the decision to hold a convention rather than a primary election!

Is this any way for Republicans to broaden their base among the electorate? Is this any way to form a government - to require Virginians to pay for the right to take part?

Surely, a primary election would be a better method than a fund-raiser for choosing the party's nominees.

Surely, this dip into political prostitution gives cause for Virginia Republicans to question - and, if need be, replace - their party's leadership.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB