Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 1, 1993 TAG: 9311010086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BIG STONE GAP LENGTH: Medium
As if gloomy predictions, cold and snow liberated her, a combative and animated Terry stumped across the Southwest Virginia coalfields.
"I like the snowfall because it clears the air," Terry told a small crowd at Jonesville Middle School on Sunday. "It clears away the residue . . . so people will vote with clear minds and clear hearts."
Although rain on Saturday and Sunday's snow kept down her crowds, Terry appeared energized by the weekend of speeches in the Southwest, where politics are as rough as the Appalachian landscape.
But it stands as a final irony of Terry's campaign that she found an active, assertive voice on the last weekend, far from the television cameras and suburban voters that have been her focus.
Reared in nearby Patrick County, Terry found uneasy acceptance among crowds of lifelong hunters Sunday for her proposal of a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases.
"I've heard some folks say they're concerned about it," said Edgar Bacon, longtime Lee County Democratic boss. "But I haven't heard one person say they wouldn't vote for her because of it."
In Clintwood on Sunday night, a room of 150 Democrats fell silent when Terry talked about the gun issue. "I really put a down on you talking about guns," she said later. "Can you get it back up? Will you look at your neighbor and say `we're going to win this election?' "
The question elicited only a low murmur from the crowd.
Terry insists she will defy the polls, which show her trailing Republican George Allen by between seven and 19 percentage points, with an unprecedented effort to turn out voters on Tuesday, especially in Southwest and Northern Virginia. She said the party has targeted precincts where 50 percent or more of the voters are identified as Democrats, down from 70 percent four years ago.
At Jonesville, in late afternoon, Terry said she believes she's well-positioned in two of the three corners of the state - Northern Virginia and the Southwest - she's relying on to deliver large majorities. But in the third corner, Hampton Roads, her prospects are less clear, she said, with campaign polls indicating sharp fluctuations in public opinion.
Although Democrats in the "Fightin' Ninth" congressional district southwest of Roanoke agreed that enthusiasm for Terry is picking up, they were guarded about predicting a win.
"We're better organized than we ever have been. People are just scared because of the polls," said Jim Robinson, a Wise County Democrat and former state delegate.
Terry carried the Southwest and other rural areas of the state easily in her successful races for attorney general in 1985 and '89. But this year, she finds herself depending on a high voter turnout.
She is getting some help that was missing four years ago, however. Then, in the midst of a bitter United Mine Workers' strike, some union Democrats refused to shake Terry's hand at a Clintwood rally and left the room when she spoke. On the final weekend of this year's campaign, the UMW aired a radio ad on behalf of Terry and the rest of her ticket.
Of the four central issues she's discussed in the final weeks of the race - gun control, abortion rights, the religious right and aid to education - only the last has direct appeal in Southwest Virginia. Terry wants to spend $130 million more on children in kindergarten through third grade in rural, poor school districts, where test scores lag behind those in the eastern half of the state.
"The things that motivate me are: me, first, and then George Allen," Terry said during a speech in Abingdon. "The third thing that motivates me are the children of the commonwealth. We are looking at a Republican ticket that doesn't want to spend one thin dime more than we are on education."
Terry began her day Sunday in Richmond, where she worshiped with a black congregation at Mount Olive Baptist Church. She noted that the Scripture reading was of the story of Lazarus.
"Last night in Southwest Virginia, I started thinking about Lazarus," Terry told the congregation. "I took that as a hopeful sign this morning."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB