Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504260129
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When Brandon Bell started running for the state Senate four years, he was such a long shot that only seven people bothered to show up for his announcement.
What a difference four years makes.
Then, Republicans were a muffled minority in the legislature, and the Roanoke Valley's Senate seat seemed securely in Democratic hands. Tuesday, it took a hotel ballroom full of Republicans, a two-piece band and a visiting dignitary - state Attorney General Jim Gilmore - to help Bell kick off his re-election bid.
The cause of the excitement? The same Republican tide that unexpectedly swept Bell into office in 1991 brought the GOP to within three seats of a majority in the state Senate; this year, Virginia Republicans are laying on what they describe as a major push to win control of at least one or both houses of the General Assembly.
But first, they have to defend their incumbents, and Democrats have targeted Bell as one of the most vulnerable GOP officeholders in the state legislature. That's enough to bring out Republicans in full force to defend one of their own.
On Friday, Gov. George Allen will be in town for a fund-raiser on Bell's behalf; Tuesday, Gilmore tried to impress the hometown crowd with the importance of the race between Bell and Roanoke Vice Mayor John Edwards, the presumed Democratic candidate.
``This race goes beyond the high-caliber, quality representation that [Bell provides the Roanoke Valley],'' Gilmore said. ``It goes also to the absolute extreme importance that this race has, this race right here in Roanoke, to the entire future to the Commonwealth.''
Indeed, both Republicans and Democrats are quick this year to cast the individual 140 General Assembly races as a single statewide referendum - although their rhetoric is beginning to differ over just what the election is about.
``Democrats are going to try to frame it as an attack on Allen'' and make the case that Allen's policies are hurting the state, said Fincastle state Sen. Malfourd ``Bo'' Trumbo, one of a number of Republican officeholders on hand to show their support for Bell. Republicans, though, appear to be focusing on leaving Allen out of the equation, and talking more about the values that underlie his policies.
Bell was already doing that Tuesday. ``I know when the people of the Roanoke Valley compare their hopes, beliefs and values with mine, they'll decide again that, on issue after issue, I am their representative,'' Bell said.
He made few references to Allen personally, but championed the key elements of Allen's conservative agenda - giving lottery proceeds to localities, setting up experimental ``charter schools,'' enacting one of the toughest welfare reform programs in the country.
Bell also cited his work in obtaining funding for a ``small-business incubator'' program, which provides assistance to start-up firms, and in expanding the state's enterprise zones, which give tax breaks to companies that locate in inner cities and other economically distressed areas.
Some Democratic legislators helped on the incubator program, Bell conceded. ``There is, however, a very crucial philosophical difference between the parties. Our opponents always think with more of your tax dollars and just a few more government programs they can solve all our problems. ... The Democrats actually believe they are not taking enough tax money to send to their bureaucrats.''
Republicans believe cutting taxes and cutting spending are winning issues for Bell even in what they concede is a district that may always be a swing district. ``Even some of the issues people have castigated him on, like the charter schools, if he explains them simply, people will be in general agreement,'' said Don Duncan, the 6th Congressional District Republican chairman.
Democrats, meanwhile, are primed to depict the Republican agenda as harmful to the state's long-term interests. ``The choice,'' Edwards said, ``is between a 19th century approach to government where government sits on the sidelines with its hands in its pocket and does nothing to provide opportunity for citizens, or a 21st century approach that has an emphasis on public-private partnership."
But he agreed with the Republicans on one point. ``I'd certainly agree that this is one of the most critical elections the citizens of the Roanoke Valley have faced in a number of years.''
STATE SEN. BRANDON BELL
Seeking re-election
Age: 36
Party: Republican
Political background: Elected in 1991
Occupation: Vice president, New Options Group Inc., a regional outplacement and career development counseling center
Education: Mississippi State University
Personal: Married, no children
The district covers Roanoke and most of Roanoke County.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB