Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 15, 1994 TAG: 9402150165
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
The possibility that Allen may not attend the three-day Republican Advance in Norfolk is being taken as another sign of the rift between the newly elected GOP governor and his party's chairman, Patrick McSweeney.
"You know, he and McSweeney have got their differences, and the rest of us in the party are just trying to do business," said 2nd District Chairman David Hummel.
Hummel said most Republicans are learning to live with the split, since the two men's functions - political leadership on one hand, and keeping the party machinery going on the other - are essentially different.
Allen called for McSweeney to resign in December, a month after defeating Democrat Mary Sue Terry to become the first Republican governor in a dozen years.
But McSweeney, citing grass-roots conservative support, has refused to step aside. In a December editorial, McSweeney said conservative Republicans were "in no mood to hand over the keys to party headquarters to anyone."
Melissa Herring, Allen's deputy press secretary, said she believed the governor had been invited. She declined to say whether Allen would attend, saying the governor's weekend schedule wouldn't be available until midweek or later.
A former high-ranking GOP official said he wouldn't be surprised if Allen didn't attend the meeting, because governors usually are allowed to pick the chairman of their party. "If I were the governor, I wouldn't go," said the former official, insisting on anonymity.
Four years ago, Democrats agreed to former Gov. Douglas Wilder's selection of one of his closest aides, Paul Goldman, as state chairman after Wilder was elected.
The Republican gathering at the downtown Omni Waterside hotel will feature Allen's unsuccessful running mate for lieutenant governor, Mike Farris, as a dinner speaker Friday night and Attorney General Jim Gimore as the Saturday banquet speaker, according to the tentative schedule.
Also attending will be Oliver North and Jim Miller, the two Republicans seeking the party's nomination for U.S. Senate.
The schedule shows Allen being represented by his chief of staff, Jay Timmons, who will speak at a Sunday breakfast that will wrap up the event.
Veteran state political analyst Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia, is listed on the agenda as a luncheon speaker Saturday.
"Apparently, we have developed in Virginia a tradition of schizophrenic parties in power," Sabato said. "The Democrats got used to it with [U.S. Sen. Charles] Robb and Wilder. Republicans are acclimating themselves to it with McSweeney and Allen. It's not a healthy thing for a party."
The tension between Allen and McSweeney dates to well before Allen's victory.
A year ago, McSweeney arranged for top GOP financial backers to meet with Allen and his two opponents for the party's nomination, a move that Allen viewed as an effort to derail his front-runner status.
Then shortly after Allen was nominated in June, McSweeney blocked the nominee's request for $50,000 in television advertising money.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB