Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994 TAG: 9406090047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By STEVE DALEY CHICAGO TRIBUNE
DATELINE: COLUMBIA, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
But when Derrick announced earlier this year that he would not run for re-election, Republicans began to think about capturing the seat in a region of the country where President Clinton and his party are increasingly unpopular.
Indeed, Republicans are optimistic about their chances in congressional races across the South and the border states this fall, but factional fighting between Main Street, economic conservative Republicans and fundamentalist Christians is a growth industry in a number of states.
In a series of interviews with party officials and activists in several states, a picture emerges of a Republican Party struggling with a search for a unifying principle.
Even as the Republican Party appears poised to rally in the South this fall, bitter feuds between ``regular'' Republicans and evangelical Christians and social conservatives have enveloped state parties in controversy.
In Virginia, for example, Republican Sen. John Warner is saying he may run as an independent in 1996 and will not support Oliver North, the former Marine lieutenant colonel who won the Republican Senate nomination Saturday and will seek Sen. Charles Robb's seat this fall.
``The Republican Party in Virginia is on the verge of a major ideological rift,'' said Mark Rozell, a political scientist at Mary Washington College in Fredricksburg.
``There's no sign of any truce in a fight over the heart and soul of the party, and it's likely to continue for years.''
In Iowa on Tuesday, Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, a favorite of evangelical Christians, barely beat back a primary challenge from Rep. Fred Grandy, best known as Gopher on TV's ``The Love Boat.''
A conservative himself, Grandy has cast himself as an alternative to the three-term incumbent and his fundamentalist followers.
In Texas, a pitched battle between moderates and fundamentalist conservatives led to the ouster of the longtime state Republican chairman last month, and the fight threatens the gubernatorial chances of candidate George W. Bush, former President Bush's son.
And in a host of gubernatorial and congressional races in the South, Democrats are hoping Republican primaries will produce nominees they can paint as right-wing ideological zealots.
``Republicans are finding out that they tend to get extremist candidates out of their primary process,'' said Albert McAlister, former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman.
Merle Black, an authority on Southern politics at Emory University in Atlanta, sees the ``drift'' in the old Confederacy moving toward the Republican Party.
He suggests, however, that there is no assurance that it will continue. ``Republicans have blown chances right and left in the past,'' he said, laughing.
``There is no majority party in the South these days,'' Black went on. ``What Republicans have to do is field candidates who can not only unite factions in the party, but reach out to voters who aren't Republican.''
That approach may be essential for a party laboring to re-establish its national footing.
Districts such as Derrick's in South Carolina have been ``trending Republican,'' as the political scientists say, and neither Clinton's actions nor national Republican infighting has slowed the trend.
To many gleeful Republicans, Clinton's travails have boosted a party that fell from grace at the national level in 1992, when Bush won just 38 percent of the vote. And nowhere does Clinton appear weaker than in his native South.
After 16 months in the White House, it is clear from the polls and special elections that the former Arkansas governor is hardly taking advantage of his regional ties.
``The signal he sent is that he's not all that different from the Democratic Party of yore,'' said Republican campaign consultant William McInturff. ``Among white Southern voters, even Clinton's health care plan looks like an enormous encroachment of government.''
From gays in the military to gun control, from rumors about his personal behavior to his foreign-policy missteps, Clinton has unearthed a vein of anger and disaffection with white Southern voters.
Analysts suggest that the most effective Republican strategy this fall would be to ``nationalize'' House races, with an emphasis on attacking Clinton.
That possibility has a chilling effect on Democratic regulars, who grudgingly acknowledge that their candidates will keep plenty of distance from the president.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB