Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509050011
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When Roanoke Valley Democrats opened their headquarters recently, two Democratic candidates made a special point of praising Trumbo.
Granted, Trumbo doesn't have any opposition this fall, so it's easy for Democrats to hand out praise across the aisle.
But Trumbo's reputation as a maverick who's not afraid to depart from the party line also makes his a good name to invoke whenever Democrats are lambasting Republicans for being too closely aligned to Gov. George Allen.
Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, was the first to mention Trumbo. Woodrum was talking up his own bill to stop Allen from increasing the size of his Cabinet secretaries' staffs with "flunkies and press officers."
"Bo Trumbo - let's give the devil his due; it was a bipartisan effort - he put the bill in on the Senate side," Woodrum said.
Later, John Edwards, the Democrat challenging state Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, brought up Trumbo again when Edwards attempted to portray Bell as not sufficiently interested in obtaining funding for the Hotel Roanoke project.
"We had to go to a neighboring jurisdiction - Senator Trumbo - to introduce the critical education bill that provided the key funding for the project," Edwards said. "It wasn't until the last minute that my opponent slipped his name onto it."
What does Trumbo think of all this attention from the other party?
Even the normally loquacious Trumbo was at a loss for words. "When Woodrum calls me the devil and Edwards tries to make it out like Brandon isn't doing anything, they give me too large a target to hit with one little quip," he said.
\ Trumpeting his support
Emmett Hanger, the Republican challenging state Sen. Frank Nolen, D-Augusta County, brought in some heavyweight support recently - an elephant.
The occasion was a fund-raising event in Natural Bridge attended by Attorney General Jim Gilmore.
"Emmett was just giving a speech, and in comes this humongous elephant with an Emmett Hanger sign on his trunk," said Gilmore spokesman Mark Miner. "You don't see a 2,000-pound elephant walk through a hotel ballroom every day."
No debate about that.
The elephant, Miner said, came from the Natural Bridge Zoo.
Hanger and Nolen are competing for the Senate seat that runs from Rockbridge County to Rockingham County.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB