THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411130065
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
The Democratic Party failed to energize its voters and respond to Republican attacks on its record, says House Speaker Daniel T. Blue Jr., and is largely to blame for its losses in Tuesday's election.
He contends that Republicans, particularly the ``religious right,'' mobilized its regulars and attracted new voters, catching the Democratic Party flat-footed and stripping him of his powerful position.
``The Republican get-out-the vote effort was better than the Democratic get-out-the vote effort,'' said Blue in a telephone interview from his home in Raleigh on Friday afternoon. ``They just turned their voters out.''
But by about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Blue said, he knew that the Republican rout of Congress would consume state Democratic legislative leaders as well.
``It was a Class 5 hurricane that came through, no question about that,'' he said.
In Tuesday's election, the Republicans added 36 seats to their numbers in the North Carolina House, winning 57 of 120 seats and taking control of the chamber for the first time this century.
After four years of running the House as speaker, Blue will step down Jan. 25 when the legislature reconvenes, and take his place with other Democrats, literally on the back rows of the House chamber as the Republicans take charge.
Blue said Tuesday's vote does not represent the demise of the Democratic Party in North Carolina, as many political scientists have claimed.
``The party has a national and statewide base of people who are interested in those things that will move the nation and the state forward,'' he said. ``This creates a greater resolve to work hard and get a Democratic message out to the voters.''
The takeover of the House by Republicans not only could be a possible setback in Blue's political career. It derails the progressive social agenda promoted by Blue and other House Democrats.
For the past four years, Blue, the first black House speaker, has promoted those things that, in his words, ``move North Carolina forward'' - public education expenditures and crime-prevention programs over punishment.
He put teachers' pay and public schools at the top of his agenda, along with new programs for poor children and help for historically black colleges. Business interests typically fell to the bottom of his list.
During the special session on crime earlier this year, Blue and other House Democrats opposed some aspects of Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.'s crime-fighting package because, they said, it did not contain enough money for crime-prevention programs.
The Republican takeover means that many of the items opposed by Blue over the last four years - gubernatorial veto, a state lottery, term limits and a victims' rights amendment - will likely get new life.
Blue, in interviews with reporters throughout the year, had indicated that a program to replace many of the state's aging school buildings would be one of his top priorities for the coming year. And he had proposed a plan - involving the repeal of the state intangibles tax - to pay for new school buildings.
And he had also said that health care reform would get his full attention.
On Friday, Blue said he would continue to push both items as a rank-and-file member of the House, but he was not certain how successful he could be.
``We'll keep working at it,'' he said. ``We have an obligation to be particularly attentive to the children in our society.''
As speaker, Blue did not hesitate to oppose Hunt and other leaders in his own party over issues such as gubernatorial veto. But he also provided Hunt with a strong ally in promoting his social programs, such as Smart Start and family resource centers.
Conservatives who chafed for years made it clear they want Blue out of the power structure.
``Dan Blue can start looking for another office,'' said Rep. Zeno Edwards Jr., R-Beaufort, at a gathering for the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study in Washington.
``Dan Blue has been discredited,'' said Rep. W. Robert Grady, R-Onslow, in an interview from his office in Jacksonville.
In one aspect, Blue is in a better position after Tuesday's vote than Senate leader Marc Basnight of Manteo. In the Senate, the Democratic Party hangs on to power by a two-vote margin.
While the voters chopped the ranks of the Senate leadership this week - nearly 50 percent of that chamber's leaders won't return to the General Assembly in January - about 80 percent of the House leadership remains intact.
While Basnight searches party ranks for new leaders who will be loyal to him, Blue's core of support in the House will be largely untouched.
They just won't be in charge.
In a Wednesday afternoon press conference in the Legislative Building, Blue told reporters that he would give up the speaker's podium without a fight and looks forward to raising his right hand and taking his oath as a Democratic legislator from the back of the chamber.
``In 1787, Thomas Jefferson took up a quill and wrote to his friend James Madison, `A little rebellion now and then is a good thing,' '' he told reporters.
Friday, Blue continued that theme, saying that politicians should be prepared for change and defeat: ``The political process makes you vulnerable to change. . . . Once the electorate has spoken, you accept it and move forward as best you can.
``I'll be just as interested in those issues that move North Carolina forward as a rank-and-file member as I was when I was in control,'' he said.
Although he had not made any public comment about his political plans, Blue was widely seen as a possible challenger to U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., in 1996, or as a candidate for governor.
On Friday, Blue, who ran unopposed in his bid to represent eastern and southern Raleigh for an eighth term, said his plans will be unaffected by the vote.
``I haven't lost an election,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Daniel T. Blue, speaker of the North Carolina House, says Democrats
are to blame for their election losses.
by CNB