ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090037
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
NOTES ON Tuesday's municipal elections in Roanoke:
Just call him the Comeback, Comeback Kid - him being Jim Trout, the veteran politician who on Tuesday won a Roanoke City Council seat after losing in bids in 1990, 1992 and 1994.
There's definitely a pattern here. He served eight years on council, from 1968 to 1976, then spent six years off. In 1982, the voters returned him to office and he served another eight years on council, then spent six years off. Now Trout's back - and, if he holds true to form, should be good through the year 2004.
In his book, "My American Journey," Colin Powell makes a passing reference to Carroll Swain as "a scrupulous but fair officer." As the Americal Division inspector-general in Vietnam in 1968, Lt. Col. Swain conducted the annual inspection of Powell's battalion.
Swain, now a councilman-elect, included the Powell quote in a campaign mailing. The mailing didn't note, however, that Powell's book misspells Swain's first name as "Carrol." Not that we've ever made a typo...
Roanoke is a generally Democratic city, but the party did exceptionally well Tuesday. As a result of their sweep, the Democrats' majority on City Council will go from 4-3 to 6-1 - the widest in decades.
The question, in this presidential-election year: If all politics is local, is local politics a harbinger of all politics?
Joe Nash finished sixth in a six-man field. But for the head of the Wasena Neighborhood Crimewatch, a political unknown when the campaign began and running without party support, it was a respectable sixth.
Nash ended the day 400 votes behind the No. 5 finisher and fell only about 1,000 votes short of winning a council seat. He carried Wasena, and came in first or second in several neighboring precincts. It's a good sign when your strongest support comes from those who know you best.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB