Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 12, 1993 TAG: 9401140022
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROSS C. HART
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
First, came the feud: Gov. Douglas Wilder vs. Sen. Chuck Robb. I don't know (or really care) who started it or who kept it going, although I feel staff, advisers and media are more to blame than the individuals themselves. Regardless, it contributed to the demoralization of the party. No one seems to want to be associated with either of them these days.
Party leadership was next. Paul Goldman assumed the reins as party chairman. My perception from Salem is that he was more interested in Wilder's future (whatever that may be) than the party's. Programs instituted by past chairs languished. Goldman is a brilliant political tactician and handled Wilder's state campaigns exceptionally. But his focus was not on the party.
Mark Warner tried to overcome a lot of this when he assumed the party chairmanship. I could tell he tried hard to improve the party. Certainly, communication was better from state headquarters. Blame for '93's day of infamy should not be on his shoulders.
Hand-in-hand with lack of leadership was the decennial redistricting after the '90 Census. The Democrat-controlled General Assembly drew district lines that gave a new (low) meaning to the term gerrymander. Bo Trumbo's Senate district covers a ridiculous span of area. Also, there's a really long, skinny, district from Southside to Tidewater that has less homogeneity than Trumbo's district. I have no problem with the party in power drawing the lines, within reason, to protect themselves. Unfortunately, reason was the last thing on the Democrats' minds.
The worst part of the redistricting process was what happened to the 7th District. George Allen was purposefully put into the same district as a more senior Republican congressman. Allen did the right thing - stepped aside to avoid an intraparty hassle. The Democratic theory was, ``Let's get Allen; we dare him to run for governor.'' The dare was accepted.
Finally, there were the candidates. The campaigns were totally inept (except Beyer's, which was barely adequate). Mary Sue Terry has never run a good statewide campaign. First, she hung on to Baliles' coattails and succeeded him as attorney general when he was promoted to governor. Then, four years ago, she kept her distance from the rest of the ticket, not even attending or responding to the invitation to a traditional function held in the Roanoke Valley for all Democratic candidates.
This year, she sat out the summer months while Allen and the radical right were beating the drums and building momentum (almost the same way Wilder won the lieutenant governor's race eight years ago). When she finally deigned to campaign, it was all catch-up and defensive, and God forbid admitting any ties to Wilder or the Democrats' record for the past 12 years.
That record is good. Wilder, in particular, has been a skillful steward as governor. No wild ``tax-and-spend'' programs, no tax increases, no explosion of employment by the state government, nothing - as governor - for anyone to be ashamed of. Ms. Terry had a good record in her own right - the Ford ambulance cases, the milk price-fixing cases and her frugality in managing her office budget, even turning back to the state treasury $1 million unspent. But we didn't hear about any of it.
Now we have 1994 facing us. Unless we grow up, get our act together and get strong leadership - now - we'll have to get used to the phrase, ``Sen. North.'' And you thought Sen. Bill Scott was bad?
What happened is, in many respects, the natural order. Those in power get too complacent, begin infighting and can't imagine voters having other ideas. As a society, it's healthy that one set of bums is thrown out and the other set is thrown in. Our bums will be back.
Ross C. Hart of Salem has served with the Democratic Party in several roles, including as chairman of the Roanoke city Democrats.
by CNB