ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130019
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Ray L. Garland
SOURCE: RAY L. GARLAND
BY FALLING just shy of a 2-1 victory in the primary, John Warner silenced his critics in the Republican Party, and Jim Miller at least has the consolation of knowing nothing he failed to do would have changed the outcome. Warner long ago stacked the deck in his favor and had the money to drive home his version of the story on paid television, where Miller had no presence.
As relieved and exhilarated as Warner must be, Virginia Republicans also have reason to rejoice. A June primary that drew almost a half-million people to the polls is a sign of strength. That was more than twice as many as voted in the Democratic primary two years ago that nominated Sen. Charles Robb. While some of these voters undoubtedly had no abiding loyalty to the GOP, most do. The list of voters generated by this primary will form a starting point for many Republican candidates over the next several years.
To date, Warner has proved himself a greater politician than a senator. Whenever possible, he has avoided controversial issues, preferring the role of bountiful uncle, bestowing gifts on a deserving people. But he measured well the currents in his own party. He had seen Republicans in convention assembled reject too many candidates who might have won, and nominate others who lost, to trust his fate to that process. Warner had a bellyful in 1978, when he wined and dined potential delegates from the Cumberland Gap to the Eastern Shore and still lost the nomination to Richard Obenshain.
It took an act of fate to gain Warner a place on the ballot and a seat in the Senate when Obenshain's campaign plane crashed. But right-wingers on the GOP state central committee, in whose gift the nomination then resided, made Warner crawl over hot coals before bestowing a nomination that was his by right as the strong second-place finisher at the convention.
In his first term, Warner adhered closely to the party line, supporting the conservative position and that of the Republican president more often than the average GOP senator. In fairness, he never strayed far from the reservation. But he did not want to rely upon fate to save his political fortunes a second time. He was careful to keep on good terms with Democrats, especially Robb, and to avoid an identification with the religious right that was increasingly calling the tune in the internal affairs of the GOP.
It's an old trick of politics to choose your enemies as carefully as you choose your friends. Warner has now proved himself a master of this tactic. He could prove himself equally a unifier.
Just before the primary, Warner said he wasn't going to indulge in any victory celebration. "Because this is a family situation," he said, "we've got to work within the family to restore unity the moment the decision is rendered." In his restrained and conciliatory acceptance speech Tuesday night, he was as good as his word.
While no one should expect the victorious senator to say now he is sorry for the actions that divided him from some of the most dedicated members of his party, he can say, "Let us begin anew to find common ground against common foes."
It simply isn't fitting for a senior senator to be unwelcome in the conclaves of his own state party. When the mood is right, Warner can dispense partisan rhetoric with the best of them. He should now join with Gov. George Allen, the new GOP state chairman Del. Randy Forbes and others to rebuild his bridges in the party. If Miller and the Rev. Pat Robertson can be induced to sing from the same sheet, so much the better.
For his part, Robertson was careful to say that while he supported Miller in the primary, he had no problem supporting Warner in the general election. Their old friendship, dating back to college days and the Korean War, should be capitalized upon to begin the healing process between those Republicans who want anti-abortion sentiments to be a litmus test and those who don't.
Robertson, who brought a shrewd business sense to establish an empire based on evangelical Christianity, is an interesting study. As a realist, he undoubtedly knows the country will never be induced to make abortion illegal. But he also understands people can more easily relate to a moral issue like abortion than defending capitalism against the welfare-state designs of the Democratic Party. In my opinion, he sees the moral rot produced by those designs as the greatest issue facing the country - indeed, the greatest issue facing Western civilization.
The Democratic Party has survived and mainly ruled because it has relentlessly promoted policies that create voting blocs upon which it can rely absolutely. People like Robertson have given the GOP a counterbalancing bloc. It can't win on its own, anymore than the Democratic blocs can, but it is an essential component of Republican success and should be treated with care and respect.
That ultimate pragmatist, Bob Dole, has taken steps to unite the two wings of the Republican Party by insisting the GOP keep its anti-abortion plank while inserting one that preaches tolerance for the party's pro-choice wing. While there has been grousing on the Christian right, it will be accepted.
Warner's triumph certainly strengthens Dole's hand in this, as Dole no doubt realized it would when he so vigorously championed Warner's cause. In that sense, the Virginia race was the ideal laboratory to test the party's move away from an extreme anti-abortion position. Warner now has the opportunity to return the favor by making the best peace he can with those he defeated.
Ray L. Garland is a Roanoke Times columnist.
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