Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 6, 1994 TAG: 9405060114
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANASSAS LENGTH: Long
- Virgil Goode doesn't have to worry about his mountain twang betraying him as an outsider among early-morning commuters crowded onto a rail platform near Washington, D.C.
His voice is shot after two days of campaigning to establish himself as a viable alternative to incumbent U.S. Sen. Charles Robb in the June 14 Democratic primary.
The Franklin County Democrat darts around the train platform and, in a raspy whisper, offers each commuter a red-white-and-blue pencil emblazoned with his name.
"What's Goode?'' one man asks, mispronouncing the candidate's name as "good'' instead of rhyming it with "food."
"Virgil Goode,'' the tall, lanky candidate replies.
"Who are you? Are you an independent?''
Simple questions. Instead of answering, Goode introduces the man to his local state senator, Democrat Charles Colgan. It's a gesture that reflects Goode's roots in the courthouse politics of Southwest Virginia. If you are a stranger, latch onto a local politician who can reassure folks that you are one of them.
But this is Northern Virginia.
The man, who works for the federal government, is a newcomer to fast-growing Prince William County. He has never heard of Colgan, who has represented the area for nearly two decades.
So it went for Goode during a recent swing through Northern Virginia.
A 20-year state senator from Rocky Mount, Goode jumped into the Democratic primary with virtually no name recognition outside of his district, which skirts along the Blue Ridge foothills south of Roanoke.
With five weeks left in the primary campaign, Goode faces a challenge as steep as some of the gravel roads back home.
He must get himself known in the rest of the state, particularly in the urban corridor between Hampton Roads and Washington, D.C., that represents two-thirds of the state's electorate.
At the same time, Goode must be careful not to alienate suburban and urban Democrats with a voting record that is more conservative than that of many Republicans in the state legislature.
"That,'' said Mark Rozell, a political science professor from Mary Washington College, "will be his toughest task in this campaign.''
With no money for television commercials, Goode is spending his time on the road shaking hands and getting what media exposure he can. He generated headlines with an old-fashioned campaign send-off in Rocky Mount on April 26.
But Goode may have lost momentum two days later at a candidates' forum in Fairfax when he chose not to confront Robb about allegations of womanizing that have dogged the former governor for years.
The issue appears to make Goode uncomfortable, even though the damage it has done to Robb is what motivated him to enter the race.
Goode has talked about the need for "honesty" and "standards.'' But he has avoided the kind of direct challenge that many Goode advisers believe can be used to frame the primary around the issue of integrity.
"We all agree there is only one issue in this campaign, and that issue is Chuck Robb,'' said Paul Goldman, a former state party chairman who has been advising Goode.
"Obviously, you have to talk about what's on people's minds. And what's on their minds is no secret.''
Craig Bieber, Goode's campaign manager, said Goode is waiting for the proper forum for a more "explicit'' discussion of Robb's record.
For now, Goode is focusing on his own record as a veteran state senator to establish himself as the most electable alternative to Robb. The June 14 ballot will include two other Democratic challengers: Sylvia Clute, a Richmond lawyer, and Nancy Spannaus, a follower of Lyndon LaRouche.
Goode is counting on a big turnout of support in rural areas. Less certain is how his conservative record will play to Democrats in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads.
Goode, 47, helped defeat the Equal Rights Amendment, tried to block nearly every form of gun control, opposed state-mandated sex education in schools and sponsored legislation requiring parental notification for teen-age girls seeking abortions.
He is tight-fisted with state funds, a tendency that grows out of his personal frugality. When the General Assembly bought new office furniture, Goode brought to the capital a beat-up desk that belonged to an uncle and a chair carved out of a tree stump.
A rural populist, Goode has railed against the political tides that have shifted state education and highway funding to the fast-growing eastern corridor.
Goode makes no apologizes for his regional zeal.
"I represented my district,'' he said. "If I were elected to the U.S. Senate, my focus would be all of Virginia.''
Some political analysts say that Goode will make no headway as long as he sticks to issues. Rozell, the Mary Washington professor, said Goode was no match for Robb on domestic and foreign policy during the Fairfax debate.
"If he merely engages the incumbent senator on policy issues, he is not going to win,'' Rozell said. "Right now, Goode has one asset - he is not named Chuck Robb.''
Indeed, many voters that Goode encountered during his recent swing through Northern Virginia said they were dissatisfied with the current field of Senate candidates.
"I wish there was somebody else in the race,'' said Hugh Brien, a 63-year-old retired Justice Department worker waiting for the commuter train in Manassas.
Opinion polls show that nearly a majority of voters hold a negative view of three potential candidates: Oliver North, the former Iran-Contra figure who is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination; former Gov. Douglas Wilder, who is collecting signatures for a possible independent bid; and Robb.
At an Arlington Bar Association luncheon, several lawyers handed Goode checks as he worked the tables at a Falls Church Red Lobster restaurant.
John Melnick, a former state legislator who lost a bid for lieutenant governor in the 1977 Democratic primary, counseled Goode on the importance of getting himself known in Northern Virginia.
"You don't lose an area because people don't agree with you,'' Melnick said. "It's because people don't understand you.''
The danger for Goode is that once urban Democrats begin to understand him, they may find that they disagree with his conservative views so much they can't vote for him.
Melnick and other supporters aren't worried. "I think if Virgil gets on the bandwagon and gets some good press," he said, "it will catch on like wildfire.''
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB