ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 11, 1997 TAG: 9703110107
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE THE ROANOKE TIMES
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Virginia's top Democrat said education is the predominant issue that officials must deal with.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer barnstormed the state's four most populous regions Monday and gave four speeches that mirrored one from the night before in nearly every detail but one: He ended them by officially announcing his candidacy for governor.
Coming from a two-term politician who says he's been running unofficially for nine years, that didn't seem like much of a change.
But in formally announcing his gubernatorial campaign, Beyer also quickly shed any low-profile comfort that he might have previously enjoyed from being the No.2 guy.
For the veteran second-in-command politician, making his first official leap into the top-billed rumble of gubernatorial politics, nothing - the enthusiasm of the crowds, the ferocity of his opposition - seemed the same.
Instead of tooling about in his new Chevy, Beyer flew corporate jets from high-dollar supporters. An entourage of aides, reporters, family and friends were at his heels. And he needed the company, as aides continually helped him brush up his speech and react to political crises threatening a pall over his infant campaign.
Even before it all started, flying to Southwest Virginia Sunday afternoon to position himself for Monday's run, his policies were under attack from the likely Republican challenger, Attorney General Jim Gilmore.
Responding to a Washington Post article that suggested Beyer might raise taxes as governor, Gilmore blasted the Democrat as a typical tax-and-spend type with a reckless agenda.
Beyer said he has no tax increase on his agenda, but a promise never to raise taxes would be a political stunt and fiscally irresponsible. Gilmore hadn't made a no-tax pledge either by Monday afternoon, but the flap made for an added line in Beyer's speech: "I believe tax breaks and tax credits can stimulate jobs and give us the resources we need to grow," he said. "I hate debt, and I see no reason to raise taxes."
At stops in Roanoke, Richmond, Norfolk and then Falls Church, Beyer continually made clear that he considered education the predominant issue facing Virginia politicians.
"In a tough, competitive, fast-changing and even dangerous world, there's only one powerful answer," he said. "Education."
He talked of making Virginia's schools the best in the country, an ambition he's quick to acknowledge would take much longer than four years to accomplish. Beyer said he wanted to raise the salaries of Virginia's teachers at least to the national average, a plan that would cost several hundred million dollars.
And Beyer promised to release a plan this summer to crack down still further on Virginia's criminals - "new, tough and specific steps to increase punishment for those who break our laws and hurt our people."
Gilmore doesn't plan to formally announce his candidacy until next month, but the Republican opposition followed Beyer like it was part of his paid staff.
During Beyer's "warm-up" rally Sunday in Abingdon, Republican attorney general candidate Jerry Kilgore stood outside calling the Democrat an enemy of Southwest Virginia. Kilgore accused Beyer of insulting the region in 1994 by saying residents there lacked "the education, the self-esteem or the chutzpah" to run businesses.
Beyer said he doesn't remember saying that, and insists the comment was taken grossly out of context if he did. "The people in the Southwest have survived unemployment like no other region," he said. "I think they have tremendous chutzpah."
The Beyer parade reached Richmond just before noon and squeezed into a tiny Capitol side chamber because aides for Republican Gov. George Allen originally denied them use of the South Portico. Allen later reversed the decision, but too late for plans to change, Beyer's aides insisted.
With wife Megan and teen-age daughter Stephanie at his side, and 4-year-old daughter Clara fidgeting nearby, he announced his campaign to a throng of supporters, who received him so noisily you'd have thought they were surprised.
"I want to be the first certified automobile mechanic ever to be governor of Virginia," he said for the third time in less than a day.
When Beyer landed in Norfolk, the state plane of Gov. George Allen already was on the tarmac, awaiting the Republican governor's return from a bill-signing ceremony. Beyer's wife and daughter ogled inside, until the governor's pilot shooed them off.
While Beyer was in Norfolk before a crowd of supporters at a middle school, Allen returned to find part of the state press corps working on their day's stories. "Did he say anything about taxes?" Allen asked before flying off to Richmond.
Beyer's crowds grew throughout the day, culminating in a rowdy Falls Church send-off just blocks away from his Northern Virginia Volvo dealership.
"People pay more attention," Beyer said after his last speech of the day, fresh from a live Washington-market television interview. "You know what it's like being lieutenant governor. This is empowering, really."
Beyer background ...
Don Beyer, 46, was born in Trieste, Italy, and is the son of a career Army officer. He has a degree from Williams College in Massachusetts. Since 1976, he has managed and owned Don Beyer Volvo in Falls Church.
Beyer, a Democrat, was elected lieutenant governor in 1989 in his first bid for public office. He was re-elected in 1993. As lieutenant governor, he has presided over the state Senate and been active in promoting changes to the welfare system, prevention of child sexual abuse and opportunities for Virginians with disabilities. Democrats will formally nominate him for governor at a convention in Richmond May 9-10.
Beyer lives in Alexandria. He is married and has four children.
For Internet links to candidates and other political information, go on-line at www.roanoke.com and look under "political resources."
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY THE ROANOKE TIMES. Lt. Gov. Don Beyer shakesby CNBthe hand of Richard Cranwell, as the Virginia House majority leader
jokes at the podium.
KEYWORDS: POLITICS LT. GOVERNOR