Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 6, 1993 TAG: 9312060027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Meet Sylvia Clute, an outspoken Richmond lawyer who is offering herself as the "none of the above" alternative to Wilder and Robb.
She is hardly a household name. But around the state Capitol and in many Virginia courtrooms, Clute is known as a fierce defender of women's rights and a lobbyist who led successful efforts in the early 1980s to reform Virginia's divorce laws.
Clute, 50, literally is running a textbook campaign for the Democratic nomination. Never having sought elective office, she is relying on how-to political manuals to learn about organizing a campaign, recruiting volunteers and raising money.
The one thing she doesn't have to learn is the case against Robb and Wilder. In a soft but firm voice, she argues that her adversaries have become so unpopular as to be virtually unelectable next fall. She warns that the nomination of either would all but assure the election of Republican Oliver North.
"Often I have voted for the lesser of three evils," she says of her decision to run. "But this time, I have said to myself that the cost of my complacency is too high.
"I am the best candidate, because I don't have the negatives of my opponents."
Like many Democrats, Clute says Wilder and Robb have frittered away their credibility by incessantly feuding. Their fight peaked in 1991, when Robb's staff leaked transcripts of a private phone conversation between Wilder and a political supporter.
"Governor Wilder had an extraordinary opportunity to shape the course of events as the first elected African-American governor," she says. "He wasted it complaining about tape recordings. . . . The only reason he's in the Senate race is that he doesn't like Chuck Robb.
"Senator Robb hasn't served the people," she adds. "What has he done in five years in the Senate? . . . Do you know one issue he provided leadership on?"
Clute is particularly sore at Robb for supporting the 1991 confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, despite allegations of sexual harassment. "There was just no sane reason for that vote," she says.
She announced her candidacy in the spring, and she remains the only formally declared alternative to Robb and Wilder. The odds against her are great. She has raised $40,000, including $15,000 of her own money, pennies compared to the $600,000 Robb has in the bank and the $7 million Wilder raised in his 1989 gubernatorial bid.
Clute, a former Peace Corps volunteer who taught English in the Himalayas and founded the state's first women-owned bank, is undaunted. "If I get a chance to appear with Wilder and Robb, voters will like me," she says.
Clute is for abortion rights and environmental regulations. She believes a portion of a proposed 75-cent federal tax on cigarettes should be used to train tobacco growers for new jobs. She proposes a special tax on handguns to defray the cost of emergency-room care.
Although she has traveled the state campaigning, her efforts have not generated visible support. Many Democrats are still hoping a better-known alternative to Robb and Wilder - such as former Gov. Gerald Baliles - will emerge.
But if lightning strikes, Clute is making sure she won't be caught without a bottle.
Warren Fiske is a reporter for Landmark News Service's Richmond bureau.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB