THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510200202
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: John Pruitt
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
If you're waiting for a sign to help you decide how to vote Nov. 7, you shouldn't have the slightest trouble.
Signs are popping up everywhere, it seems - front lawns, vacant lots, power poles (even if it is prohibited.) Elect this one, re-elect that one, they plead.
I know this a literal interpretation of a sign, but at least it gets us into a discussion of the election.
This election could be pivotal in American and Virginia history, what with the Republican-Democratic balance of power on the line. Still, if there's excitement outside the party leadership and party super faithful, it eludes me.
Part of that, I'm convinced, is the scarcity of forums in which candidates can be asked their stands and pinned down on how they'd pay for their pipe dreams.
Thankfully, some candidates still do door-to-door campaigning, but that's generally a neighborhood run-through rather than a time when citizens can press for answers.
Nowadays, it's more commonplace for candidates to head for big gatherings, where they shake as many hands as possible but provide essentially little information except campaign literature - which is hardly the stuff to foster knowledge and build trust - and appear in the media to push their message.
So whatever happened to the community forum? Whereas well publicized forums were once a ``given'' in local elections, they've been sadly scarce in this election and some past.
One factor surely must be the wild redistricting that left Virginia delegates and senators serving districts that Suffolk NAACP President Paul Gillis described as stretching ``from the beginning to never.''
It's just not easy to fan excitement in Suffolk about an appearance by a legislator whose territory includes disparate cities and counties. Still, picking political leaders isn't about excitement, and civic responsibility doesn't end when excitement wanes.
I did attend one forum in Suffolk, sponsored by the NAACP, and I know of a couple of others - including one in Isle of Wight County, and two costly, and therefore exclusive, receptions sponsored by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce in Chesapeake.
Not so long, the Suffolk Chamber sponsored forums locally. While they certainly didn't draw throngs, they at least offered citizens the opportunity to hear candidates' views and to ask questions. Single five-city events, which the regional chamber is sponsoring this year - Check the Voter Information feature in this edition for information - seems a bit much. This is real party politics!
Back to the NAACP forum: It speaks volumes that the NAACP would be so community-minded, and that so many candidates came. They'll respond when given a forum.
Particularly interesting were Democrats' (particularly Sen. Richard Holland's and Sen. Louise Lucas') dire warnings that electing Republicans would be disastrous for Virginia and this particular audience. Why, Lucas said, that would ``turn back the hands of time much farther than any of you realize.''
It was interesting, too, to hear clerk of court candidate Gene Strickland talk of modernizing the Suffolk Circuit Court office, perhaps adding satellite offices and Saturday hours and making it more accessible by computer.
Incumbent Henry Murden, in the job since 1967, pushed his experience and said Strickland's candidacy offers only choice.
It's clearly something that voters want, and we've got some homework to do before Nov. 7. Even if there aren't as many forums as there once were, we're obligated to learn before we vote.
Go beyond the signs, even if they are everywhere. MEMO: Comment? Call 934-7553.
by CNB