Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 1994 TAG: 9405110062
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOHN GOOLRICK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Later, of course, Douglas Wilder ran for president, but at no point did I think he could achieve that goal.
Now it occurs to me that in George Allen we may just have a young version of Ronald Reagan and someone who, with luck and good timing, has a chance to make it to the White House some day.
I try to view this as objectively as possible, although I did work for Allen during his brief tenure as a member of Congress and I consider him a good friend.
Even so, I hope that does not cloud my judgment. Having observed hundreds of politicians campaigning over the years and as many public officials going about their duties, I have never seen anyone who can so instantly create empathy with people as can the current governor of the state of Virginia.
His most valuable asset is the same as Ronald Reagan's greatest strength - likeability. For, like Reagan, Allen comes across as a genuinely nice guy even to people who don't particularly care for his political philosophy. I have seen Allen walk into a room where there were dozens of people hostile to his ideas and then watched as he listened politely, made comments and left them with the impression that even though they didn't care much for what he was saying on a particular subject, he was willing to give them a fair hearing and he was too nice for them to be mad at him personally.
Allen's second most important strength is also like Reagan's in that he does have a political ground. While not an ideologue, he genuinely believes in the Jeffersonian principles of limited government and individual responsibility in an age when many politicians trim whatever philosophy of government they may have to the latest polls.
Allen is immensely charismatic, telegenic and photogenic at a time such characteristics are essential to anyone who seeks to climb the ladder in the national political arena. He knows how to sell his ideas, as witness his devastatingly effective campaign against Democrat Mary Sue Terry, who couldn't sell her ideas because they were mushy to the core.
If there is one thing that could stand improving in Allen's repetoire, it is his speechmaking. He needs to put a bit more poetry into his speeches. It was Reagan's use of skilled speechwriters and his own ability to deliver words of great inspiration that helped the nation recover from its national hand-wringing of the 1970s. Reagan was the master communicator of our age, and his speeches often sounded poetic and touched the hearts of millions. Allen's speeches are too often confrontational or technical, all muscle and little music.
But that will change as time goes by. Already he is regarded by the national Republican Party as a future prospect of great potential. By what route he comes to national prominence, if at all, depends on what opportunities present themselves. But I have little doubt he will find a way sooner or later to the national stage.
And, again like Reagan, Allen is blessed with luck and the ability to turn political lemons into lemonade. When he was blatantly gerrymandered out of Congress, he ran for governor and won against long odds. And what the media perceive as one of his few defeats as governor, the legislature's refusal to amend a parental-notification bill as he wished, actually helps him by shoring up his support with the increasingly influential conservative right wing of the state Republican Party.
Yet only time will tell. Robb, once the knight in shining armor, is struggling for his political life while Allen's star is in the ascendancy. Politics remains a highly unpredictable business.
John Goolrick, a former political reporter, is an aide to 1st District Rep. Herbert Bateman. Opinions expressed are his own.
by CNB