THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 20, 1996 TAG: 9602200263
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Election Coverage - Decision '96
SOURCE: BY DAVE ADDIS AND PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
Today's balloting in New Hampshire, one of the nation's smallest and least representative states, may help anoint a standard bearer for the Republican Party's run at the White House.
But in Virginia, a most-loyal Republican stronghold in presidential elections, there is a sense of frustration with the state's detachment from this most-important process. And it is difficult to determine how much anybody cares about the loud and fractious political fight in a state so far away, geographically and philosophically, from Virginia.
If a busy Virginia Beach shopping center on Presidents Day is any indication, interest in the goings on in frozen New England range from complete detachment to keen interest.
Nell Ziroli, one arm cradling 7-month old Haley, the other a grocery bag outside the Super Fresh at Hilltop North Shopping Center, just hasn't had the time for rough-and-tumble New Hampshire politics.
``I don't know enough to care about it, sadly,'' she said. Then, nodding toward a happy-faced daughter, she added, ``This is why I don't keep up with things.''
But people brought here by the military seem far more tuned in.
``These Republicans today are after each others' throats,'' said Russell Pinkney, a planner for the Naval Air Depot, holding the hand of his daughter, Shelbi. ``I think they should think about getting this country back together instead of fighting each other.''
Tony Newpower, a former naval officer now in industrial sales, cares plenty about New Hampshire because he'd like to see a change in the White House. But that's not going to happen, he said, because the GOP has produced a ``mediocre'' field of candidates.
``I don't think any of them can beat Bill Clinton,'' he said. ``They need somebody who can pull them all together, but none of these guys can do it. They're going to miss a golden opportunity to capitalize on what's been going wrong.''
Some of the comments reflect frustration with Virginia's remote place in the presidential scheme of things.
By selecting its delegates through an arcane convention process late in the game, Virginia - Mother of Presidents, a cradle of Western democracy that borders the nation's capital - has been reduced to spectator status in the Republican presidential primary process.
The people of the state deserve better, say those who stay plugged into the political process. Virginia is the 12th most populous state in the union and has dutifully supported the Republican nominee in every presidential election except one (1964, Johnson over Goldwater) since Dwight D. Eisenhower carried the state in 1952.
But by the time the Republicans hold their convention, May 30-June 1, nearly 85 percent of the party's delegates will have been chosen and the GOP nominee probably will have been decided.
``With respect to Virginia not being a player, well, in part that's because the process has changed,'' said G. William Whitehurst, an Old Dominion University history professor who formerly represented Norfolk and Virginia Beach as a Republican congressman.
States anxious to have a voice in the presidential process have shifted their conventions and primaries to earlier pages on the calendar, he said.
``What's particularly interesting this year,'' Whitehurst said, ``is to see that so many of the big primaries have been bumped up. California, New York, Ohio. By the end of March, 70 percent of the Republican delegates are going to be in place, and odds are we will know who the nominee will be.''
If the contest stays tight, Whitehurst said, Virginia's 53 delegates could become critical. ``In a really close race, if you get into June . . . then Virginia in that instance could be a factor, its delegates much sought. But in this race it doesn't look like that's going to be the case.''
Whitehurst, who does political analysis for a local television station, believes Bob Dole will emerge as the nominee by then.
As one of the largest states in the union, Virginia ``ought to have something to say about who the Republican nominee is going to be,'' said William Wood, executive director of the Institute of Political Leadership at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
``The way these primaries are now so front-loaded,'' Wood said, ``it takes a lot of suspense out of it, so you've got to get in there early.''
Wood said Virginia could carry more clout if Republicans made their selection early, or teamed with other major states on a common date. Still, he said, the last time the state tried that, the political establishment lost control of the results.
``Remember,'' he said, ``they joined the other states in that Southern primary, in '88, and of course Jesse Jackson got a lot of votes, and that kind of soured a lot of people in the state on doing that.''
Being left out is a source of frustration among those who follow the process closely, said Tony Macrini, who hosts a morning talk show on WNIS-AM 850.
``They do care about it,'' Macrini said. ``Daily I will get calls and faxes commenting on the race for the Republican nomination. They are following that race in New Hampshire.'' He said his audience is particularly attuned to politics.
``I think it's very sad that we are involved so late in the season, after everything has been decided. Because I think that Virginia with its ethnic breakdown, with the different industries here, with the military here, would be far more representative of the United States as a whole than is either Iowa or New Hampshire.
``It's totally absurd that those two states would have so much importance for this election for the Republican nomination.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Jim Walker, The Virginian-Pilot
Nell Ziroli...daughter Haley
Russell Pinkney
Tony Newpower
by CNB