THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 6, 1994 TAG: 9408050119
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Realpolitick: Occasional dispatches on the off-beat side of Virginia's
1994 U.S. Senate race.
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
A FAT BROWN cockroach strutted out from a towering pile of yellowed newspapers in a basement faculty office at the University of Virginia.
Chasing the insect with a piece of notebook paper was Larry J. Sabato: PhD., Rhodes scholar, Danforth Fellow, author of nine books, a man with degrees from Virginia and Oxford. The man the Wall Street Journal recently described as the ``most-quoted college professor in the land.''
This eminent academician was trying to scoop the bug onto the paper.
``I don't usually kill them,'' Sabato said, lunging one last time for the roach.
Why not just execute the insect?
``Weeeell, since we have a visitor,'' he said, his voice trailing off as he eyed the brazen bug.
Reluctantly, with a look of pure distaste, Sabato, 41, softly stepped on the cockroach, then deposited the flattened corpse in the trash can.
``Where were we?'' he asked, sinking into a chair in front of his desk. ``Oh yes, political analysts. I guess I've started a cottage industry.''
Indeed.
For almost 15 years, Larry J. Sabato, boy wonder of Mr. Jefferson's university, was the Virginia political analyst.
The cockroaches he chased were politicians. And once they checked in to Sabato's world, it wasn't easy for them to check out.
So frequent was Sabato's name in print that someone (many credit Chuck Robb) dismissively dubbed him ``Dr. Dial A Quote.'' The Wall Street Journal recently ran a computer search for Sabato's name and came up with 24 newspapers using his expertise since Virginia's U.S. Senate campaign began several months ago.
When the Washington Post needed someone to sort out the snarled world of Virginia politics whom did it call? Larry Sabato. When ``Nightline'' needed an expert? Sabato. Same for the ``Today Show,'' ``MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour,'' ``Face the Nation,'' and ``Good Morning America.'' When Larry King hosted the four U.S. Senate candidates on his television show in June, who fed him intelligent questions? Sabato. Via a wire in King's ear, no less.
But Dr. Dial A Quote no longer has a one-man practice.
Like accident attorneys at the scene of a four-car pile-up, analysts are arriving on the increasingly complex Virginia political landscape. Colleges and universities, eager to see their professors' names in print or their faces on the evening news, call the media hawking their own experts.
One professor was so eager to get in print that he once handed out business cards to the press at a political convention.
With political lunacy approaching new heights in Virginia's U.S. Senate campaign, there is frenzied competition among academics, each wanting a piece of the action.
``I've had two colleges calling me this week, asking me to quote their professors as so-called experts,'' said Dwayne Yancey, political reporter for the Roanoke Times & World News.
Sabato said there is one major difference between him and some of the Johnny-come-latelies.
``In the beginning, the journalists read my books and decided I knew a thing or two about politics'' said Sabato. ``They came to me.''
Many still do.
But other political experts are elbowing their way onto Sabato's turf.
This must make Chuck Robb and company very happy, because they've declared war on the professor. And it's clear the professor is no fan of the senator.
Sabato has his reasons.
``In the course of researching `Feeding Frenzy,' I discovered a number of very unpleasant things about Robb,'' Sabato said, referring to his book about political scandal.
The feeling is mutual.
Robb's campaign manager, Bert L. Rohrer, was recently quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch saying, ``If it weren't for the media, Larry Sabato would be nothing more than a college professor with an old Volvo and two pairs of Hush Puppies.''
Nevertheless, Sabato cruises Charlottesville in a shiny red Mercedes.
``All the campaigns complain about me,'' he said, smiling. ``I consider that a compliment and a sign that I'm unbiased.''
Rohrer is not discussing Sabato with the press any longer.
At last month's political debate at the Homestead, at least three pundits (including Sabato) leaned against the back wall of the debate room, ignoring each other, intent on the candidates. Another pundit was working as moderator. As soon as the debate ended, they all dashed to the entrance of the press room, making themselves available for instant quotes and analysis.
No longer are academic degrees the deciding factor in whom newspapers and televisions choose to quote.
``It helps to be able to deliver pithy remarks. Larry Sabato is great at that,'' conceded Robert E. Denton, head of the communications department at Virginia Tech. ``And it matters where you get quoted. Let's face it, a quote in the Roanoke Times doesn't mean as much as one in the Washington Post.''
Yet, going unquoted is the ultimate insult.
``I have to admit, when I read an article and they quote Sabato and Morris (Tom Morris, president of Emory and Henry) I keep wondering why I wasn't called,'' said Denton, who has written or edited several books and who hosts a weekly Blue Ridge public television show.
``I know that being from out here hurts a little. . . . The media thinks `Virginia Tech, that's a cow college.' ''
After Sabato, the undisputed potentate of political analysts, come four other pundits: Morris, Bob Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University, Mark Rozell of Mary Washington College and Denton.
But these four face competition from other professors with sharp elbows - at George Mason, Radford and James Madison universities.
``The university certainly likes it when its professors get quoted,'' Denton said.
Pundits follow the politicians almost as much as the press.
``I noticed Bob Holsworth wasn't there,'' Denton said of the last debate. ``He rarely misses anything like that. If you're gonna play, you've got to be there.''
Sabato was there, of course.
And if he is uneasy with the increased competition, the Norfolk native doesn't show it. He's writing two books. Teaching classes. Answering more press calls that anyone except Lisa Marie Presley's spokesman.
He shrugged off criticism that he's too harsh on Robb.
``I feel that if a candidate has significant virtues, it's right to point those out,'' he said. ``Likewise, if a candidate has significant sins, it's right to point those out too.''
``I don't believe everything has to be balanced,'' said the man who thinks more about crushing a roach than a politician. ``Just truthful.''
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW LARRY SABATO U.S. SENATE RACE by CNB