Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 14, 1994                   TAG: 9401140371
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WILDER'S BIG SURPRISE

He will not run for the U.S. Senate after all, Virginia's outgoing governor said Wednesday night in his valedictory address. Incumbent Sen. Charles Robb thus will be spared a bruising primary battle against Wilder for the Democratic nomination.

Wilder's decision, characteristically, made for good drama. But whether it adds up to a net plus or minus for the commonwealth, and the nation, depends in large part on which of several possible scenarios unfolds as a consequence.

Does it mean Oliver North's path to high office will be blocked? If so, count it a boon for the republic. North is the leading, certainly the best-funded, Republican aspirant for Robb's job. He's also a proven liar with a demonstrated contempt for the very institution he seeks to enter.

The conventionial wisdom, if after two days you can have such, holds that a Robb unbloodied by a primary fight with Wilder should have an easier time against North. For that matter, Wilder's announcement theoretically could shock the state GOP to its senses, and turn it toward a respectable conservative like James Miller, the former Reagan budget director, or someone else.

But it's not absolutely self-evident that an unbloodied Robb would fare better against North than a scrappy Wilder. It may be unlikely that Wilder's decision has helped North, in other words, but it's not impossible. If it has, Wilder's decision is regrettable.

The decision is regrettable, too, if it means Robb will not be held as accountable for his past as he should be. Serious questions regarding abuses of power and other matters continue to hover over Robb. North will not be a credible critic. Wilder could have been, though not as credible as if he'd been able to avoid so intense a personalization of his differences with Robb.

If the removal of that feud from the contest leaves it less cluttered, then Wilder's decision is helpful. Not only Miller on the Republican side but also Sylvia Clute and Dan Alcorn on the Democratic side are serious if little-known candidates. Others may enter the race. They deserve the attention denied them so long as all eyes were on the prospective Robb-Wilder Battle of the Titans.

To have a chance, less-known candidates also need other things, such as money. But one legacy of Wilder's now-abandoned challenge to Robb is the fact that the Democrats have chosen the primary method. Wilder's withdrawal may have made Robb's renomination almost certain; still, it is less certain than if the party had earlier decided on the traditional convention method.

Finally, Wilder's decision is sad if it spells an end to his history-making career in Virginia politics. For the past four years, confronted with a recessionary economy that greatly constrained his options, the governor's weaknesses have been given prominence. Austerity is never popular - and his overriding achievement of maintaining Virginia's reputation for fiscal stability despite the prolonged revenue slump was of the slow, steady kind, which doesn't make headlines. Wilder deserved an opportunity to make the case for the quality of his stewardship.

Regret is tempered, however, by the suspicion that he will still have that opportunity. It wouldn't be surprising if Wilder were to re-enter the political arena before too much time has passed.

Keywords:
POLITICS