Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 16, 1993 TAG: 9403170010
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ray L. Garland
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Both are lawyers and veterans of state political wars. Terry came to the House of Delegates in 1978 as a protege of the late A.L. Philpott, with whom she shared a three-member district consisting of her native Patrick County and the counties of Henry and Pittsylvania. Allen, son of the football legend, settled in Albemarle County after graduating from the University of Virginia and began his service in the House of Delegates in 1983, defeating a senior incumbent on his second try.
Terry was strongly identified with the conservative wing of the Democratic Party during her first three terms in the House, even opposing ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment - a position she reversed when the issue was on its last legs and she was preparing the ground for her campaign for statewide office. Her methodical approach paid off in easy victories for the office of attorney general in 1985 and 1989, carrying all 10 congressional districts both times.
While Terry was marked as a comer from her first days in the statehouse, Allen had to rise above the disability of being an outspoken Republican in a body run by Democrats along very partisan lines.
Having constantly to choose between being compliant or defiant is a process that has unnerved many Republican legislators in Richmond. Allen steered a middle course. He would be provocative to Democrats at times, but he also offered thoughtful alternatives, especially during debates over the package of tax increases for roads offered by Gov. Gerald Baliles.
Though he's catching flak for it now, Allen showed courage in opposing the idea advanced by Speaker Philpott for the legislature to get into the business of designating specific highway projects, accompanied by special taxes and debt. While the U.S. 58 project across southern Virginia will undoubtedly benefit the area, Philpott's victory may have extracted a price as urban legislators prepare to direct highway funding away from rural roads.
Neither candidate has experience in managing large enterprises, but both have excelled in politics - albeit in somewhat different ways.
As a "favored" Democrat, Terry arrived in Richmond and moved straight on to choice committees like Courts of Justice, where she was positioned to advance issues with a lot of political sex appeal, such as cracking down on drinking drivers and raising the legal age for beer from 18 to 21.
It is probably true that the only way you could credibly assess Terry's performance as attorney general would be from inside the office. There has been no obvious scandal nor any conspicuous triumph. The cost of running the office has increased by more than 80 percent during her tenure, but that was a slower rate of growth than under her predecessor. While running up costs faster than population growth plus inflation, she would doubtless boast of having kept it this low in the face of greater demands in a litigious and regulatory age.
In addition to some 245 lawyers and other staff on the attorney general's payroll, Terry placed more than $10 million with private attorneys of her choosing to do legal work for the state. This outside work, which has all the earmarks of political patronage, did not begin with her, and there's scant evidence that she either abused the system or was profligate in disbursing funds.
Republicans are fond of saying that Terry was "asleep at the switch" while litigation on behalf of federal retirees made its way to the Supreme Court and ended by exposing the state to a potential liability of some $500 million for taxes collected on federal pensions. But it's hard to know what would have changed had she been awake at the switch.
The low point of Terry's service as attorney general came when she ducked out on defending single-sex education at VMI, which has ramifications far beyond VMI. The high point undoubtedly occurred when she called Gov. Douglas Wilder's bluff on serious issues involving the Virginia Retirement System, though nothing much came of it.
Allen earned his political spurs when he convincingly held a Republican seat in a special election for the House of Representatives in 1991 just as George Bush's world was tumbling down. Reapportionment placed him in the same district with a senior GOP colleague and he stood down. But even more convincing was the way he brushed aside two reasonably strong opponents to win overpowering support at the recent Republican convention in Richmond that attracted more than 12,000 delegates.
If the two candidates sound a lot alike on such issues as crime, taxes and jobs, their political personalities could hardly be less alike. Where Terry is cool and cautious, Allen is engaging almost to the point of seeming ungubernatorial.
When the race began it was seen as Terry's to lose, and some of her partisans now fear she's losing it. In truth, Allen had the easier argument all along. Terry must not only sell herself but overcome negatives attaching to President Clinton, Gov. Wilder and Sen. Charles Robb. Allen has only to convince wavering voters that with Democrats owning everything in Richmond and points north, it's time for a change.
What does it all mean? If you were assessing qualifications to run the office of governor you would have to give the nod to Terry by reason of her relatively unruffled seven years as attorney general. But if you believe Virginia will benefit from a change while strengthening an anti-Clinton tide that might pay dividends in next year's congressional elections, you would logically go with Allen.
Ray L. Garland is a Roanoke Times & World-News columnist.
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POLITICS
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