Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 25, 1994 TAG: 9405250066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Terry insisted that her decision to take sides in the intraparty contest should not be seen as a slight of Robb, who was her running mate in 1981 when he was elected governor and she was elected to the first of her two terms as attorney general.
`This is an endorsement of Virgil Goode, not a non-endorsement of Chuck Robb,` said Terry, the Democratic nominee for governor last year.
`The easy thing for me would have been to sit by and just let whatever might happen happen in this primary,` she said. `But I think I would be shirking my responsibility as a Virginian if I did not do what I could, as small as that might be, to make sure we have the strongest possible candidate to prevent (Republican) Oliver North from becoming our senator.`
Terry is the most prominent Democrat who has publicly backed Goode in the June 14 primary. The field also includes Richmond lawyer Sylvia Clute and perennial candidate Nancy Spannaus.
Goode's campaign staff said Terry's endorsement could count in vote-rich Northern Virginia, where many Democrats are uneasy with Goode's conservative record on gun control, smoking rights and abortion.
Terry said some voters may have stereotyped Goode, a 20-year state senator from Franklin County, without considering what she called his `progressive` outlook.
She referred to the controversy surrounding the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991. Robb outraged feminists by voting to confirm Thomas. Goode has said he would have voted against Thomas.
When pressed, Terry provided few specifics why a state senator who is little-known outside his rural district would be a stronger candidate than an incumbent U.S. Senator who has won statewide election three times.
Terry and Goode are old friends who attended law school together and later represented the neighboring Patrick and Franklin counties in the General Assembly.
Terry refused to comment on Goode's contention that reports about Robb's after-hours socializing in Virginia Beach during his term as governor in the mid-1980s could prove a fatal distraction in the general election.
`I think when voters move past all the politics of this race,` she said, `Virgil is going to be the one who gets the second looks in the primary. When that happens, he's going to be the one best equipped to stay focused on the issues that matter to Virginia in the fall.` SENT BY [ET[BYE (Filed by Norfolk, Va., Virginian-Pilot/Ledger-Star)
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB