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

DATE: FRIDAY, June 18, 1993                   TAG: 9306180055
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WILDER SAYS HE'D WIN IF HE RAN

"Yes, I could win, and yes, Virginia does deserve better," Wilder said during a television interview. "If I had to go by what I hear, if I had to go by letters or phone calls or [advice from] close associates and friends, it would be to run."

Even so, Wilder insisted that he wasn't leaning one way or the other about challenging Robb, a fellow Democrat. Wilder said he's not sure he wants to stay in elective politics.

But Wilder's appearance on Washington's WETA "Metro Week," which was broadcast Thursday night, was filled with rhetoric strongly suggesting the governor already has hit the campaign trail. He has said he will make his intentions public before he leaves for a Central American trade mission in 12 days.

"We've made such progress in Virginia. We've moved the state forward," Wilder said. "I don't want to see us slip back into . . . a network of some few people pulling the strings and manipulating the rest of the electorate as marionettes."

Wilder said he would prefer to run as a Democrat and hoped the nomination would be decided by a primary, rather than at a convention. "I would like to think the Democratic Party is big enough and inclusive enough to permit that possibility," Wilder said. But he did not rule out running as an independent.

Political analysts and party observers believe Wilder has a better chance of winning the party's nomination in a primary than at a convention controlled by party insiders.

Friends and political associates who have spoken with Wilder in recent days said he seems increasingly enthusiastic about running. A few months ago, those same people said, Wilder was eager to see Robb out of office but seemed weary of politics.

Throughout his career, Wilder always has sought to build a sense of drama about political announcements, coveting the element of surprise above all. Aides insist they didn't know until the day before that he would announce his presidential candidacy in late 1991.

But in his own look at the positive and negative aspects of another campaign, Wilder has said one of the arguments against running is his sense that, at age 62 and after 25 years in elective office, he owes himself a break from politics.

As the nation's first elected black governor, Wilder would be assured prominence and national attention even if he shifted into an elder statesman role.

On the other hand, Wilder has told friends that he believes he would enjoy the Senate and could have more influence there than the average freshman.