Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 15, 1995 TAG: 9506150022
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY L. GARLAND
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Among those active in the affairs of the Virginia Republican Party there has always been ambivalence toward Warner: a suspicion that his gods were not their gods. And the senator, bruised in his dealings with diehard right-wingers when he sought the GOP senatorial nomination in 1978 with Elizabeth Taylor on his arm, has reciprocated the sentiment.
Warner took the wise precaution in 1990 of persuading a reluctant GOP state central committee to grant him nomination by primary for a third term, even though he had no announced opponent in either party. They did not know, apparently, that under state law this also locked in a primary for 1996 if that is what the senator wanted.
There was never much doubt on that last point. Warner knew the hard right might beat him in a convention, or at least cause him to sweat. But it would be much harder in a primary, where his high name recognition and big bucks would provide a powerful defense against any challenger.
The funny thing is Warner's voting record should commend him to conservatives. Even on abortion and social issues he seldom deviates from the party line. The problem has been a lack of partisan conviction.
But in refusing to back GOP nominee Michael Farris for lieutenant governor in 1993, and Oliver North for U.S. Senate in 1994, Warner crossed the line from mere passivity, which might be tolerated, to outright sabotage. That the chief beneficiary of his apostasy was Sen. Charles Robb, who now votes almost exclusively with the Clintonoids, makes reconciliation almost impossible. But as much as Warner was concerned over Robb's fate, his own future security naturally concerned him more.
Warner, it seems to me, has always been guided by two stars. First, the fear that a Democratic Party united behind a serious challenger could unseat him. Second, the belief Democrats would mainly control Congress. The way to deal with the first was never emphasizing the Republican connection. The second could be handled by hiding under a chair when the Senate was locked in a partisan brawl. That was seen most clearly in the savaging of former Sen. John Tower of Texas in 1989.
Tower, who had headed the Armed Services Committee, was George Bush's first choice as secretary of defense. Democrat Sam Nunn of Georgia, who succeeded to the chairmanship, orchestrated a vicious personal attack on Tower which it was the duty of Warner, as ranking minority member, to rebuff. He failed lamentably.
Whatever you think of Tower, he did not deserve his fate, and the country was harmed by the precedent of such attacks on presidential nominees succeeding.
Warner can claim, of course, that once the media feeding frenzy began, Tower's cause was lost, just as the nomination of Robert Bork for the Supreme Court was lost before he announced his vote against him. And by not angering the Democratic masters of the Senate, he positioned himself to gain their favor on matters important to Virginia.
While the general public has long since forgotten these matters, Warner's conduct has always stuck in the craw of discerning conservatives, where it still remains.
Was it really only a year ago that Oliver North won the GOP nomination to oppose Robb? Warner was right in seeing North as a very flawed and probably unelectable candidate, but totally wrong in the way he acted upon that belief. It is in his entire course of action, from the moment he dished Farris, that you can say he did much to assure Robb's return. Since on most important questions of policy Robb's vote now cancels out his own, you can make a case that in terms purely political, all Warner did was produce an impasse.
If former President George Bush had any hard feelings toward the senator, they are in the past. His presence at the fund-raising gala April 10 that was the real kick-off for Warner's re-election effort went a long way toward demonstrating the senator remained the choice of the establishment and would have a colossal advantage in campaign contributions.
Republican Chairman Pat McSweeney called upon Bush not to attend. "Your decision," he said, "is a slap at a grass-roots party that supported you faithfully in 1992 while John Warner was hiding in the tall grass." But GOP state legislators anxious to raise money for their own campaigns agreed to serve as joint sponsors of the event. And the head of the Republican Senatorial Committee, Alphonse D'Amato of New York, made it clear he backs Warner 100 percent.
All this means an uphill fight for Jim Miller, the former Reagan budget director who opposed North for the nomination last year. Miller will now challenge Warner. He has established a goal of $1 million for the primary and is actively soliciting funds. But Warner is already a household name and can raise five times that much for the primary without depleting the sources he will need for the general election against an expected spirited Democratic challenge.
And with Democrats almost certain to nominate by convention, they will be free to enter the GOP primary to pay their respects to Warner as one who has put state and country above party.
The sad part is Miller probably has a better grasp of the operations of the federal government than any member of the Senate, and the intellectual capacity to make a distinguished contribution to our affairs.
While much water remains to run under the bridge, a conviction is growing that Warner is too smart a politician, and Miller not smart enough, to make a change. With politics so much a game of self-fulfilling prophecy, Miller must stir his stumps and sharpen his pitch.
Ray L. Garland is a Roanoke Times & World-News columnist.
by CNB