THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 18, 1995 TAG: 9511160498
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By PAUL GOLDMAN
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
Instead of ridiculing Governor Allen for having failed to win GOP legislative majorities, Democrats should immediately send him a bold olive branch on campaign-reform legislation. Admittedly, may Democratic legislators are outraged at the campaign conducted by the Republican political consultants. Neutral observers would agree that never in the history of the commonwealth did one party spend so much money on a steady, organized, homogenous drumbeat of repetitive, negative attacks in speeches, radio, television and direct mail.
But Virginia Democrats need to avoid being sucked into bickering with the governor and his party. American politics, as much as the American culture generally, is headed toward the sewer unless we quickly act. Neither Democrats nor the state as a whole benefit from this trend.
The election returns contain a warning sign for Virginia Democrats. This year, there were enough Democratic partisans in such places as Alexandria, Charlottesville and Roanoke to recapture Democratic-leaning Senate districts lost four years ago. But the GOP continued to show new strength in rural and suburban areas; long-time Democratic senators in growth areas such as Virginia Beach and the Richmond suburbs were defeated. Increasingly, Democrats have come to rely more and more on Northern Virginia and certain key jurisdictions around the state to keep their legislative majorities. This gives them a small margin of error in General Assembly races, and even less in the contests for statewide offices.
Fortunately, Mr. Allen's decision to govern as a partisan - as opposed to his more flexible campaign image - has caused him to misuse his historic landslide victory. This now gives the Democrats a chance to fill the leadership vacuum and address the need to make key changes in the state's current political system.
Virginia's government was essentially created by the Byrd Machine during an era of one-party rule. The legislature, tightly run by the machine, controlled everything. Governors were kept to one term, thereby protecting the machine in case a ``reformer'' managed to get elected.
But times have changed. The legislative dominance of former years is not the model for the future. But neither is the excessive, at times mean-spirited, partisanship demonstrated by Mr. Allen in the past campaign. The governor and all his men are angry because they have only four years in power. Therefore, they tried - at all costs - to take control of the General Assembly.
In their wisdom, the people rejected them. But this still leaves in place a governmental system in need of fixing. We have a legislature with too much constitutional power, and a governorship with too little accountability to the public. Governors are at risk for going too far, since they don't have to face re-election. They are treated as royalty. This soon goes to their heads.
Governor Allen says he wants to be a ``reformer.'' To this end the Democratic Party of what former Governor Baliles called the ``New Dominion'' should seize the moment and pass a campaign-reform package with at least the following elements:
1. Amend the Constitution and end the one-term limitation on the governorship. Most states allow a governor to serve two consecutive four-year terms. This helps everyone. If Republican George Allen and Democrat Doug Wilder had been allowed to run for re-election, they and the commonwealth would have been better off.
2. Enact sweeping changes in how money is raised for legislative elections. For example, the highly publicized $100,000 donations given to both sides this year must be outlawed.
3. Pass new laws to insulate education from politically motivated budget cuts. In some states, education funding is given specially protected status. Democrats were able to win the war in education this time. But education must not be hostage every two years to election politics.
4. Legislate a way for the public to help improve our political process. This can be done by supporting a constitutional change giving the people the right of initiative and referendum in the area of campaign reform. This will allow the public to directly pass legislation - for example, a ban on political-action committees or corporate contributions - if the General Assembly and the governor are unable to act. This has worked in other states.
5. Democrats need to take the lead in getting the key groups in the political process to meet and review the declining standards in our public discourse. There may be no way to achieve an enforceable meeting of the minds on this matter. But reasonable people on both sides of the aisle must recognize that the current situation is spinning out of control.
6. The General Assembly should pass the laws necessary to allow party registration and limit participation in primaries or conventions to those declaring for one side to the other.
7. An incumbent state legislator now has the right to force his party to hold either a convention or a primary in case he is facing a challenge for renomination. This is unconstitutional, and every Virginia legal scholar knows it. This law should be changed.
8. Term limits should be enacted to prevent any legislator from serving as the chair of any committee for more than four years.
9. Tighter controls must be enacted to prevent the governor and key members of his administration from using public money to pay for their political activities.
10. The present method of electing judges - now solely a legislative function - needs to be modernized.
Realistically, it will be necessary for these and other possible changes to be wrapped in one take-it-or-leave-it package. Otherwise, members of each side will support only the reform they believe gives them an immediate advantage.
Responsible campaign reform will help Democrats, Republicans, independents and any new third party to compete on a level playing field. It will also restore civility to our political process and keep a muzzle on all these political dobermans masquerading as campaign consultants.
It's what the people of Virginia want, and our politics desperately need. MEMO: Mr. Goldman is a former chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party. by CNB