ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997 TAG: 9704070057
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
Jim Gilmore, announcing he won't resign as attorney general until June, misses the point.
VIRGINIA Attorney General Jim Gilmore still doesn't seem to get it. Not that the opposition Democrats, either, have shown as firm a grasp of the difficulty as you might like.
Gilmore said Thursday that he'll resign his post to run for governor. But he won't do so until June 11, the day after he's scheduled to win the Republican nomination at the state GOP convention.
He called on his all-but-certain Democratic opponent, Don Beyer, to step down from the lieutenant governor's post for the campaign, as if their positions were equivalent. They're not.
And, incredibly, the Gilmore press release announcing his not-so-impending resignation also boasted of his prowess at raising campaign funds - which is the source of Gilmore's conflict-of-interest problem.
The difficulty is not, as some Democrats would have it, that the attorney general's position is a full-time job while the lieutenant governorship is part-time. Nor was Beyer quite on target in saying Gilmore should follow the precedent set by previous attorneys general who ran for governor: If it were a matter simply of following precedent, Gilmore's decision to wait until his formal nomination would be appropriate.
The problem is more specific. As attorney general, Gilmore is part politician, part legal professional. As legal professional, Gilmore and other state attorneys general must decide their approach to tobacco litigation. As politician, Gilmore journeyed a few days ago to Philip Morris' New York headquarters to accept $50,000 from the tobacco giant. The two roles are in conflict. Beyer, too, has accepted Philip Morris money, but Beyer isn't attorney general.
Resigning wasn't Gilmore's only option. He could have declined the Philip Morris contribution. After all, it's not crucial to his campaign: On the same day he announced his resignation, he netted more than $1 million at campaign events in Norfolk, Arlington and Richmond.
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS GOVERNORby CNB