Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 1, 1995 TAG: 9505010013
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We want to see John raising a lot of money and taking it to him hard, which so far we're not seeing as much of as we'd like," said Allen Trigger, vice chairman of the Roanoke County Democrats. "John's got to take his gloves off and start going after Brandon. John is a man of honor, but he's got to mix it up."
Edwards conceded that "lots of people have been trying to give me a gentle nudge," but he insisted there are good reasons why he has been holding back. For one thing, he said, "it's been pretty obvious [Bell] has been self-destructing, by showing how out-of-touch he is with the people of the Roanoke Valley by marching to George Allen's narrow, ideological drummer."
For another, Edwards said, citizens are tired of yearlong campaigns. "The party faithful are chomping at the bit to run a high-decibel campaign. That's understandable. But the average citizen out there doesn't want to have a high-decibel campaign" this early in the year.
Many Republicans were fearful that Edwards would start attacking Bell as soon as he entered the race - at a time when Bell was tied up in Richmond with the General Assembly and would have had difficulty responding.
Now that he hasn't, the Republicans who gathered at Bell's re-election kickoff last week were more optimistic about their chances than they were a few months ago.
"John's not getting off his [butt]," charged Ron Adkins, vice chairman of the Roanoke County Republicans. "He's not motivated."
Longtime GOP activist Mamie Vest had a more charitable assessment: "Edwards to me is always running in low gear. He's a nice person, everyone agrees to that."
\ Behind the scenes
Edwards has hired Roanoke County Democratic activist Carolyn Flippen to "coordinate" his campaign, although he said he'll probably bring in a full-fledged campaign manager later. Bell, meanwhile, has gone out of state, hiring James Faulkner, a highly touted operative who was the No. 2 man in a winning Arizona congressional race last year.
Bell said he picked Faulkner because he wanted to run his re-election bid with the intensity of a congressional campaign and he wanted someone with experience at that level. "In an off year, we've got to do a lot of the same things [Republicans did nationally] in '94,'' Bell said. "We've got to drive the turnout and the emotion."
But Democrats think Bell is making a mistake if he allows his campaign to be a run as a cookie-cutter campaign with generic national themes. They think Edwards' strongest pitch is on local issues, making the case that Bell is too ideological, while Edwards can do a better job of looking out for the valley's regional interests.
"Brandon Bell has been a terrible senator," said Roanoke Democratic Chairman Allen Wilson, "and that fact will become more and more apparent as the campaign goes on."
Artis delays announcement
Jeff Artis has put off his formal declaration for the Republican nomination to oppose Del. Victor Thomas, D-Roanoke, until Wednesday.
Artis, an in-school suspension teacher at Patrick Henry High School and publisher of the Black Conservative Newsletter, had hoped to announce last week. But he said he had difficulty lining up the location he wanted, and the new date will allow more of his supporters to attend.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB