THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511181497
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: PERRY MORGAN
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Although he failed to win enough seats to control either house of the General Assembly, Gov. George Allen took comfort from a footnote. Claiming a majority of those voting in both the Senate (57 percent) and House (52 percent) races voted Republican, Allen saw vindication for ``our philosophy.''
Democrats scoffed that ``percents don't equal political power,'' and House Speaker Tom Moss said: ``I couldn't dignify that with an answer.'' He doesn't have to, of course; facts have their own dignity. If the statistical edge Allen cited is not something to crow about, it does merit more than a passing thought by Democrats. Their party has perception and leadership problems that need work.
The Democrats hung on to a four-seat majority in the House but lost four seats and the certainty of control in the Senate; with the defeat of veterans like Hunter Andrews and Clancy Holland, they also lost heft in the top of their batting order. Their Election Day victory was in losing less than was expected. Meantime, it appears a Republican tide is still running in the South, which is not good for Virginia Democrats because it makes them appear as old news and devotees of the status quo in a time of political turbulence when ``change'' is the byword - never mind the direction.
The Democrats, to be sure, have footnotes of their own to argue. They had tempted fate by opposing an election-year tax cut pushed by a popular governor; whacked his half-billion-dollar prison-building program, and resisted cuts in state services - all this coming on the heels of Allen's landslide election and setting themselves up to be targeted as stereotypical national Democrats favoring high taxes and big spending.
Since the governor did attack but fell short, it's not unreasonable for Democrats to say they carried the day. They can argue further that their record in office served them well since influential businessmen and former governors, including two Republicans, accused Allen in so many words of advocating false economies in education funding already pared to a nubbin. Allen also lost the sympathy of several senior Republican legislators who faulted him for bringing legislative defeats on himself by misrepresenting the way things are in Virginia.
None of this, however, changes the fact that on Election Day the Democrats lost ground, or that their past gubernatorial campaign imploded, or that any party long in office grows too fond of partisan reward so evident, for example, in the way the state's judiciary is constituted.
At best the Democrats lack momentum, an agenda for reform, and appealing new faces. It will be interesting to see how far Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer comes to the fore as Senate tiebreaker and what he has on his mind. Surely he has already noted the build-up of barnacles. MEMO: Mr. Morgan is a former publisher of The Virginian-Pilot.
by CNB