Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 25, 1993 TAG: 9306250209
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
In an interview to be broadcast 11:30 a.m. Sunday on the Black Entertainment Television cable network, Wilder said he would prefer to run as a Democrat, but might launch an independent candidacy if party leaders refuse to hold a primary election.
"I have decided in looking at the status quo in relation to Virginia that we have to have a different representative in the Senate," Wilder said in excerpts released by the network. "It is my intention to seek the office . . . and I'm leaning in the direction of doing all of the things that would be necessary to do that."
The announcement, made just hours after Wilder told other interviewers he was still undecided about running, sets up a potentially sensational three-way contest among Wilder, Robb and Republican Oliver North, the central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal of the mid-1980s. Robb has said he will seek a second term and North has all but announced his candidacy.
For more than 10 years, Robb and Wilder have been bitter adversaries. They have barely been on speaking terms since spring 1990, when Robb staff mebers gave a reporter the transcript of a secretly taped phone conversation between Wilder and a political supporter.
Wilder has denounced Robb as "unfit to hold office," citing the taping incident, his performance in office and unspecified "peccadillos."
The senator was cleared by a federal grand jury of involvement in the leak, but three of his aides were convicted of minor offenses related to it.
Robb also has been dogged by allegations that he attended parties where cocaine was used and had an affair in 1984 with a beauty queen.
Despite Robb's problems, the incumbent remains a favorite with Democratic leaders, who will decide whether the party should choose its 1994 nominee in a convention or a primary. Wilder has all but acknowledged that it would be difficult for him to win a convention contest.
Wilder's declaration Thursday effectively gave Democratic leaders a stressful choice: either hold a primary or risk a three-way general election fight that could split the Democratic vote and make North the front-runner.
Should Wilder bolt the party, some analysts believe, he would take a strong majority of black voters, a bloc that in past elections has given more than 90 percent of its vote to Robb and other Democrats.
Wilder, who got four of every 10 white votes in 1989, also has white support, though polls show it has eroded substantially.
"Will I run as a Democrat?" Wilder said during the BET interview. "I work with the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party has been good to me and I hope that the Democratic Party is wide enough and big enough to be inclusive."
According to sources, Wilder also told BET that even if Democrats hold a primary, he might bolt the party if it became clear the leaders were undermining his fund raising or organizational efforts.
"He has got the party over a barrel," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist. "He's basically saying, `I'm your nominee or I'll run as an independent.' "
Wilder has a history of winning showdowns with the party. In 1982, his threats to run as an independent for the U.S. Senate convinced Robb and other party leaders to withdraw their support for front-runner Owen Pickett. In 1985 and 1989, he faced down leadership efforts to recruit opponents to his nomination bids for lieutenant governor and then governor.
A spokeswoman for Robb was reluctant to comment. "The 1994 Senate race will be here soon enough," said Peggy Wilhide. "Until then, we owe it to our state to keep the focus on [this year's] races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general."
Joe Elton, a strategist for North, was delighted by Wilder's likely entry. "The more, the merrier," he said.
A Wilder adviser, asking not to be identified, said the governor is certain to run. "I'd report this as a done deal," he said.
For months, Wilder has heightening interest in the race by attacking Robb and insisting that he was ambivalent about running. He repeated that Thursday morning, in an interview with student journalists from The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star of Norfolk.
"I'm not trying to keep people in the dark, I'm just having a hard time making up my mind," he said.
Staff writer Rob Eure contributed information to this story.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB