Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 18, 1993 TAG: 9309040323
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICH LOWRY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One columnist suggested that Allen and his allies want to ``ban abortion,'' ``encourage gun ownership'' and ``limit public funding for education.'' Another charged that ``To be governor in George Allen's Virginia, you must be a white, middle-aged, family man.'' Message: Allen is intolerant.
The undercurrent beneath the spleen is that in nominating Allen, Republicans have launched a kamikaze ideological crusade. But all the chatter is as detached from the realities of George Allen's politics as it is from the concerns of Virginians.
Anyone searching for the fervor of an ideologue in Allen will look in vain. He's a man you'd feel comfortable to have visiting your living room, as he has in homes throughout Virginia over the past year. And his politics are as down-to-earth as his manner.
Take his basic political principle - Virginians don't need government to tax away more of their money, dollars they can save for their children's education, put into mortages or just spend on rent.
Allen pledges not to increase the fiscal burden on Virginians. Mary Sue Terry, his opponent, calls that ``irresponsible.'' Irresponsible? When working men and women can't balance their checkbooks, they tighten their belts - so should government.
In this conviction, Allen is firmly within the mainstream. A recent ABC News poll showed that 67 percent of Americans want less government and lower taxes. But for the past 12 years, Democrats have given Virginia their version of Clintonomics.
Virginia's budget has increased 143 percent, while its total bonded indebtedness has soared from $1.98 billion in 1980 to $8.3 billion. Democrats have raised Virginia from 32 among the states in per capita tax burden to 23.
Allen wants government to keep its hands off taxpayers, but on criminals. The violent-crime rate in Virginia increased 26 percent between 1987 and 1991, thanks in part to parole laws seemingly designed to keep criminals out of prison, and steadfastly supported by Terry.
The average time served by drug traffickers declined about 50 percent from 1986 to 1990. And on average a first offender convicted of murder in Virginia will spend just 5.4 years in prison. With about two-thirds of serious crime in the United States committed by repeat offenders, Virginia's parole laws keep criminals in business.
Allen would end the law-enforcement soft-touch, instituting truth-in-sentencing, ending parole for violent offenders and getting more resources to cops on the front lines. Democrats like to wring their hands about ``divisive'' politicians who talk about crime. But government can do nothing more meaningful for citizens - black or white, rich or poor - than keep their communities safe.
Virginia also has an obligation to provide children a sterling education, but SAT scores have dropped 15 points in Virginia since 1984. The only serious attention Democrats have paid to education the past four years is around budget-cutting time.
Across the nation, states are reforming their schools by raising standards and expecting children to meet them. It's time Virginia got on board. Allen would put it there, stressing standards, taming the education bureaucracy and piloting school-choice programs.
The Democrats and the press will try to plow under Allen's common-sense agenda with charges of extremism, and on no issue will they demagogue so doggedly as abortion.
Allen doesn't want to ban abortion. He thinks abortion laws should be written by the states, and supports reasonable restrictions, such as parental notification and waiting periods, in Virginia. That makes him part of an American consensus that wants abortion legal, but limited.
For extremism, look to the Mary Sue Terry-supported Freedom of Choice Act. This federal legislation would impose abortion laws more permissive than those of Roe vs. Wade on the states. Democrats on one congressional committee even rejected an amendment that would have made it illegal for non-doctors to perform abortions. Forget about ``safe and legal'' abortion, all that matters is that it's legal.
After 12 years in power, there's every reason for Democrats to campaign on mud-slinging rather than their record - rising spending, a climbing crime rate and declining educational achievement. There's also every reason for Virginians who care about the future of the commonwealth to look elsewhere for leadership.
\ Rich Lowry, a longtime resident of Virginia, is an editorial associate at National Review magazine.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB