Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 27, 1993 TAG: 9309010261
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That a Virginia governor, who can't succeed himself in that office, would consider a shot at the Senate should come as no surprise. Perhaps Wilder believes he has nothing better to do.
The governor's political credentials are more than a little respectable. If he thinks he'd represent Virginia better than the incumbent, and if he believes that Sen. Charles Robb has misused his office (a notion not without some supporting evidence), then why shouldn't Wilder challenge Robb for the Democratic nomination?
Granted, Wilder would bring baggage into the arena. If his intent is simply to settle old scores with his nemesis, or to show that he still retains power to influence politics in Virginia, that is petty, and an insult to the integrity of the electoral process.
This campaign could be a potential embarrassment for Virginia.
Granted, too, Wilder will have an especially tough time convincing voters of his good intentions if he implies by his actions that he'd prefer to see Republican Oliver North take Robb's seat than see the incumbent win re-election.
A North victory, whether or not it's made possible by an independent candidacy splitting the Democratic vote, would be a guaranteed disaster for Virginia.
For that reason alone, though, Wilder's potential candidacy deserves at least as much respect as North's.
Here is a sitting governor with a credible, nationally recognized record for fiscal responsibility. If he carries baggage from the past and a chip on his shoulder, or harbors intense desires for personal and political vindication, surely the same can be said - more so - of North.
And what about Robb? Isn't he carrying some heavy baggage himself, seeking absolution for past misdeeds and embarrassments? It wasn't Wilder's office, after all, that leaked bugged telephone conversations or tried to cover up the boss's bizarre behavior.
In fact, don't Robb and North each have more to answer for than Wilder does?
Let Democrats decide - in a primary, as Wilder has proposed - whether Robb or the governor should have the Senate nomination. Or, even, whether someone else should.
These aren't the only fish in the Democrats' sea, remember. Before next year, perhaps Lt. Gov. Don Beyer or former Gov. Gerald Baliles, or someone else, might sally forth with Senate ambitions.
And let Republican voters decide - also in a primary - if they want to honor, with their nomination for the Senate, a man who dishonored himself in a conspiracy to subvert the Constitution.
North is not their only alternative, either. Two other Republicans - James Miller, budget director under President Reagan; and Jay Stephens, U.S. attorney under President Bush - also are campaigning for the GOP nomination, and that field could broaden.
In any event,the Senate nominations and election are likely to be driven more by ego and rivalry, by vengeance and vindication than even is normal in politics; considerations of what's best for the party and the state could well take a back seat.
It is worth noting, therefore, that the result of Senate races is serious business. Virginians ought to fill the office with the best-qualified candidate, even if that means none of the above.
It's worth noting, too, that the Senate election doesn't happen until next year. There remains, this year, the little matter of electing a governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB