Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 16, 1994 TAG: 9401160115
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
The boyish-looking, 41-year-old politician stood hatless, gloveless and without a topcoat, despite a sub-zero wind-chill factor, as he pledged to respond to his grass-roots mandate with "a fighting spirit" and an assault on Democratic policies.
What began as a long shot crusade became, by Election Day, "a revolutionary army . . . the most dramatic call for change we have seen in modern times in Virginia," said Allen, a Charlottesville lawyer and son of the legendary Washington Redskins coach. His 17 percentage-point victory margin was the largest for a Virginia governor in modern times and ended 12 years of Democratic statehouse rule.
Despite pledging a bipartisan effort with a legislature narrowly controlled by Democrats, Allen thundered: "In recent times, the will of the people has been frustrated by an unholy alliance of manipulative well-heeled interests, entrenched bureaucrats, and political opportunists."
As Virginia's political elite huddled under mufflers and stadium blankets on the south steps of the capitol, Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, a Democrat, was sworn in for a second term, and Republican Jim Gilmore took the oath as attorney general.
By tradition, outgoing Gov. Douglas Wilder exited as soon as Allen finished his oath, closing the curtain on a tumultuous and historic reign as the nation's first elected black governor.
Allen, whose trademark is a snuff-dipping, cowboy boot-wearing folksiness, sounded a ringing populism as he charged that the capital has become "a citadel of special interests." He promised that the people, not "stolid, status quo, monarchical elitists" would now rule.
His agenda, Allen pledged, will be to remove "the heavy, grimy boot of excessive taxation and spending and regulation," return the state to "traditional values and core beliefs," confront an epidemic of violent crime and "fight the beast of tyranny and oppression that the federal government has become."
Noting both the weather and the seemingly insurmountable political odds that faced him a year ago, Allen prompted laughter as he added: "Many said we had a snowball's chance" of election. "A snowball has a heck of a good chance today."
Flexing his new muscle, Allen signed his first executive order immediately after the ceremony. The order creates a special "strike force" to find ways of streamlining government.
Allen, whose political resume includes eight years in the Assembly and one term in Congress, told reporters he began the day at 4:30 a.m. Worried about his speech and "whether my jaw was going to lock up," Allen said he was unable to sleep.
"I can't wear an overcoat, you know. I've got to go up there and be brave and be a real polar bear," said Allen during a morning prayer breakfast.
Allen accented the traditional morning-coat attire worn for gubernatorial swearing-ins with a pair of black cowboy boots. His wife, Susan, who cuddled the couple's two young children against the cold, settled a mini-furor in the capital city by wearing fur, rather than a cloth coat.
Although his father died three years ago, Allen designated a reserved seat for the coach. "He taught me to always look for the best in people, to never become discouraged, and to keep fighting on," Allen said in tribute.
Allen's election and the arrival in Richmond last week of a GOP legislative delegation just shy of a majority sets the stage for a conservative revival in state government. Allen will lay out his specific plans in an address to the Assembly Monday night.
"It's back to the future," said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato, suggesting that the past 12 years may have been just an interlude in the state's march toward Republicanism.
"This is Virginia's norm, and every now and then it departs from the norm," Sabato said. "Allen is what Virginia is - a moderate conservative with the emphasis on conservative."
Despite his criticisms of Democratic rule, Allen had kind words for his predecessor. As Wilder passed the keys to the mansion to Allen in formalities in the Old Senate chamber, the pair hugged.
In his speech, Allen lauded Wilder for helping "sustain Virginia's well-earned reputation for fiscal soundness and stability. . . . His inauguration four years ago affirmed that Virginia had entered a new era, free from stereotypes and free from prejudices, and those stereotypes and prejudices will not return," Allen said.
Sitting earlier in an office stripped of books and other personal items, Wilder said his plans include lecturing, working to create a slave museum, and serving on several boards, including the board of Howard University and Africare, which works in developing nations.
"The nostalgia I have is recognizing that a 25-year period is ending," said Wilder, referring to his political career as he signed final papers, including a few dozen appointments. "I don't intend to haunt the halls."
While the void cannot be filled, "it's an experience so uplifting . . . it's permanent, it stays," he said.
by CNB