THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 2, 1995 TAG: 9511020013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
In recommending candidates for office we generally adhere to the adage: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. But in the case of the followers of Lyndon LaRouche, we're prepared to make an exception.
Two from Hampton Roads are seeking office in the Nov. 7 election. Mark W. Walker is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Mark L. Earley in the 14th Senate District. And Wayne T. Baker hopes to win the seat of Republican Randy Forbes in the 78th House District.
LaRouche and his supporters subscribe to a strange mixture of sense and nonsense that features elaborate conspiracies and crackpot economic ideas. They warn of a banking crisis and a United Nations bent on genocide.
In the alternative universe of the La-Roucheans, Henry Kissinger is a British intelligence agent; Queen Elizabeth, Oliver North and the pope are drug smugglers; B'nai B'rith is a terrorist organization; and a top government priority should be colonizing Mars.
The local candidates appear to subscribe fully to the bizarre doctrines of LaRouche's cult. They have indicted themselves out of their own mouths. Baker says, ``Dump the free-market policies which have destroyed the economy and declare a national economic emergency.'' Walker says, ``We are in the worst economic crash since the time of the plague.''
Too often mainstream candidates indulge in shameless hyperbole, make outlandish campaign promises, overstate their own virtues and demonize opponents from whom they differ only slightly. It's the sort of thing that gives politics a bad name. Voters are right to find it wearying to be subjected to so much name-calling and overheated rhetoric.
But candidates like Walker and Baker are a timely reminder of what real extremism looks like. Compared to the average liberal Democrat or conservative Republican, these fellows are from another planet.
In races where the followers of Lyndon LaRouche are on the ballot, we wholeheartedly encourage voters to go to the polls and defeat them. Walker and Baker may be perfectly nice people and perfectly sincere candidates, but their far-out views disqualify them from serving as effective legislators. Solving the real problems of America is enough of a challenge without electing candidates who invent unreal ones to worry about.
In recommending candidates for office we generally adhere to the adage: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. But in the case of the followers of Lyndon LaRouche, we're prepared to make an exception.
Two from Hampton Roads are seeking office in the Nov. 7 election. Mark W. Walker is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Mark L. Earley in the 14th Senate District. And Wayne T. Baker hopes to win the seat of Republican Randy Forbes in the 78th House District.
LaRouche and his supporters subscribe to a strange mixture of sense and nonsense that features elaborate conspiracies and crackpot economic ideas. They warn of a banking crisis and a United Nations bent on genocide.
In the alternative universe of the La-Roucheans, Henry Kissinger is a British intelligence agent; Queen Elizabeth, Oliver North and the pope are drug smugglers; B'nai B'rith is a terrorist organization; and a top government priority should be colonizing Mars.
The local candidates appear to subscribe fully to the bizarre doctrines of LaRouche's cult. They have indicted themselves out of their own mouths. Baker says, ``Dump the free-market policies which have destroyed the economy and declare a national economic emergency.'' Walker says, ``We are in the worst economic crash since the time of the plague.''
Too often mainstream candidates indulge in shameless hyperbole, make outlandish campaign promises, overstate their own virtues and demonize opponents from whom they differ only slightly. It's the sort of thing that gives politics a bad name. Voters are right to find it wearying to be subjected to so much name-calling and overheated rhetoric.
But candidates like Walker and Baker are a timely reminder of what real extremism looks like. Compared to the average liberal Democrat or conservative Republican, these fellows are from another planet.
In races where the followers of Lyndon LaRouche are on the ballot, we wholeheartedly encourage voters to go to the polls and defeat them. Walker and Baker may be perfectly nice people and perfectly sincere candidates, but their far-out views disqualify them from serving as effective legislators. Solving the real problems of America is enough of a challenge without electing candidates who invent unreal ones to worry about. by CNB