Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 19, 1993 TAG: 9312190131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
But the woman who will become Virginia's first lady Jan. 15 has barely slowed since Republican George Allen was elected governor Nov. 2.
"It's been probably as busy but because I want it to continue that way," Allen said in her office at transition headquarters.
"I'm trying to get set up so that when George is sworn in I'll be able to take off on some of the issues that I wanted to work on, the children's issues, the drug issues."
She settled in for an interview after scanning her husband's latest news release on his demand that 450 state employees resign when he takes office. She also had been briefed by Allen's chief of staff, Jay Timmons.
Although her aides said she would not talk about issues, Allen needed little prompting to launch into a defense of her husband against critics who say he has treated state workers unfairly.
She and her husband discuss politics constantly, Allen said, but she disavows comparisons between herself and President Clinton's wife and political partner, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Her office will not be in the Capitol but in a nearby carriage house that other first ladies have used, she said.
"It's not a Hillary office," she said. "I don't want to be too bold."
Allen said she won't be shy, however, about lobbying legislators to support her pet projects, which include teaching parents and children about the dangers of drugs and promoting Virginia tourism.
"Most of these legislators are friends of mine," she said. "I have no qualms about going over to their office or seeing them at a cocktail party and saying to them, `How are you going to vote on this bill?' "
But she quickly added, "I don't want to overstep my bounds. I don't want to be pushy. I'm just another citizen of Virginia who has some input."
Allen will be a low-key but formidable lobbyist, said House of Delegates Minority Leader Vance Wilkins, R-Amherst.
"I don't see her being a Hillary Clinton," Wilkins said. "I think the way she will do it will be totally different, but highly effective."
Susan Allen became interested in politics after meeting George Allen while she was a University of South Carolina student and he was a Charlottesville lawyer.
They began dating after Allen's divorce from his first wife and were married in 1986. They have two children, Tyler, 5, and Forrest, 2.
The daughter of a Marine pilot, Allen lived in Fairfax County before moving with her family to Albemarle County.
After receiving her marketing degree in 1983, Allen worked in convention sales for two hotels in Charlottesville and for Ash Lawn plantation.
One of the few things Allen won't talk about is her age.
Other questions are not too personal, such as her opinion of her husband's chewing tobacco habit. "I'm not happy that he chews tobacco," she said. "I don't want to be a nagging wife. He knows how I feel about it."
During the campaign, she was described as Allen's greatest asset.
She traveled nearly as much as he did, spending days on the road while a live-in nanny cared for the Allen children.
Gov. Douglas Wilder is divorced, so Virginia has not had a first lady in four years.
The Allens also will be bringing young children into the executive mansion for the first time since Democrat Charles Robb was governor in the early 1980s.
Allen said she doubts that living in a mansion with a large staff will change the Allens' style.
"Our family has always been very down-to-earth and kind of operated in that style and I don't think that's going to change too much.
"I think we'll still be very disciplined and keep our children very disciplined and try to have kids in just like we lived in a normal neighborhood," she said.
by CNB