Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 27, 1994 TAG: 9405270101
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-15 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
He said he made his decision after wrestling with his personal convictions, especially his anti-abortion stance, that made him uncomfortable with the Democratic Party's philosophy.
Lookabill, whose term as clerk runs through 1999, notified Democratic Party Chairman Michael Barbour of his resignation by letter this week.
"We're surprised and disappointed. We guess these things happen," Barbour said Thursday.
While serving a recent term as county Democratic chairman, Lookabill said, he found himself having to support candidates with whom he was not entirely comfortable.
"You end up positioning yourself with people whose personal philosophies are just an anathema to you," Lookabill said.
"The Democrats have embraced every philosophy to a point they don't stand for anything," Lookabill said.
Lookabill said he considered himself an independent after mailing the letter to Barbour. But running for political office as an independent is not practical, Lookabill said, because of the number of signatures a candidate must obtain to be placed on a ballot. Therefore, Lookabill will align himself with the county's Republican Party.
He said he wanted to be able to support incumbent Maynard Sayers, a Republican, as commissioner of revenue. But he said he also will continue to support Rosemary Tickle, treasurer, and Sheriff Ralph Dobbins, both Democrats.
A large part of his decision came because of Lookabill's "radical" anti-abortion stance, a label he uses himself. Lookabill does not believe in abortions for any reason, including rape or incest.
As a law student and a supporter of women's rights, Lookabill said, he cheered the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision giving women the right to abortion.
Now, he opposes that right, believing the woman's right to choose should not be outweighed by the child's right to life.
"I don't see this as a women's rights issue. I see this as a child's rights issue."
"I have literally wept over the idea that a mother ... could destroy that child. To me, that is just so lacking in regard for human life," Lookabill said.
"I just don't have many colleagues in the Democratic Party," said Lookabill, who wears a gold "Precious Feet" lapel pin that nationally has come to symbolize a human fetus.
Barbour said there is room for differing beliefs on abortion in the Democratic Party.
"I don't think the direction of the Democratic Party has changed significantly in the last 15 years," Barbour said. Just as there are Republicans who favor abortion rights, there are "many people in the Democratic Party who are adamantly opposed to abortion."
Lookabill has been a Democrat most of his life, but officially signed on with the party when he ran unsuccessfully in 1983 for commonwealth's attorney against Everett Shockley, a Republican.
He was appointed the county's clerk of court in 1988 to replace Gerry Atkinson, won a special election and then won re-election to a full eight-year term in 1991.
In a news release Thursday afternoon, Barbour and the county Democratic Party outlined the previous support the party has given Lookabill in those races and wished him well in the future.
"While we do not fully understand Woody's reasons for deciding to end his long affiliation with the Democratic Party ... we do respect Woody's right to make this decision," the release stated.
Sybil Atkinson, chairwoman of the Pulaski County Republican Party and Gerry Atkinson's widow, said she has known for some time that Lookabill was considering leaving the Democratic Party.
"We have talked numerous, numerous times," she said, and Lookabill came to the conclusion the Democratic Party was not where he belonged.
"He didn't leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left him," Atkinson said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB