THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609250389
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: At Issue: Leadership
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 130 lines
Peggy Whitehurst's constituency is composed of preschoolers at her church and her grandson's classmates at Western Branch Elementary School. They also are the sick members of her community and her neighbors in Silverwood.
She listens to their needs and tries to respond.
Whitehurst is not a politician. She's a volunteer and a leader in her community, and she says the tasks she undertakes are supplemental to her elected officials' duties.
``It's what I've always done,'' she said. ``Without volunteers, how many things would go lacking? If people didn't do things like give blood, wouldn't we really be in trouble?''
Whitehurst retired three years ago, after more than two decades of service as the volunteer director at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
She now helps out in the classroom at her grandson's school in Western Branch. She serves on the board of the Portsmouth-West Chesapeake Red Cross. At church, she has Sunday School and preschool classes. Recently, she joined a citizens' advisory council that is guiding the U.S. Postal Service to provide better service in her neighborhood.
To effectively lead, Whitehurst says, first you must accept your limits. You must listen to your constituency to establish their needs and desires. Then you go about meeting them. Balancing those things with your time and your own beliefs on how issues should be handled is a judgment.
``Basically, I believe those in government really try, as I do,'' she said. ``It's a mammoth operation. . . . They can't do everything for everybody. And I think that must be the frustration of elected officials, because I believe most of them want to.''
She said average citizens expect too much from their government, and more people need to exercise their leadership qualities and look for ``fewer freebies'' from society. Residents need to vote and call and write to their leaders.
``They make a good effort to make sure we have their numbers and addresses,'' she said. ``We just need to use them more. They can't call us all.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on page B1 by MARK MITCHELL, The
Virginian-Pilot
Peggy Whitehurst...
Photo
Peggy Whitehurst, holding her grandson Matthew Baldwin, works hard
as a volunteer and wants the same kind of dedication in her
leaders. But, she says, citizens must help.
Graphic with photos of candidates
Whitehurst's Question: If the mission of a leader is to set goals
and accomplish them for a constituency, why do so many candidates
feel it is necessary to spend time knocking their opponents?
SENATE
John Warner's response: ``In every political campaign I have run,
I have dedicated myself to sharing with Virginians my vision on the
issues. While others may engage in name-calling and berating their
opponents, that has never been my style, nor will it be.''
Mark R. Warner's response: ``Some candidates resort to personal
negative attacks because they don't have any new ideas to offer the
electorate. I don't believe personal attacks should have a place in
today's political arena, so I have pledged not to engage in that
type of campaigning. Campaigns are about ideas, issues and voting
records. Providing voters with accurate information about the policy
differences between the candidates is an important part of any
campaign, and something I will continue to do. During the remainder
of the campaign I will continue to communicate with Virginians about
why I want to get hired for this job. I want Virginians to learn
about my views and how I want to help lead Virginia into the 21st
century.''
HOUSE
2nd District
Owen B. Pickett's response: ``I don't. It's not part of my
campaign plan.''
John F. Tate's response: ``When an incumbent politician votes as
badly as Owen Pickett does, it's very important the voters hear
about it. But neither Pickett or any other incumbent is going to
spend his time and money telling people about his votes to fund more
social welfare spending at the expense of veterans and military
retirees, or his votes against a balanced budget amendment and the
line-item veto. Although Pickett knows that his voting record is out
of step with the Second District, it's not in his interests to
publicize it. The people need to know, and the incumbent won't tell
them the plain truth. Thus, it falls to the challenger to tell the
people what their congressman has been doing.''
3rd District
Robert C. Scott's response: ``An incumbent's campaign should
offer a description of an incumbent's record, with an indication
they will do the same in the future. If an incumbent has done a good
job he ought to run a positive campaign.''
Elsie Goodwyn Holland's response: ``It's possible to run a
positive campaign. You can do a comparison without being negative.
You can be matter of fact.''
4th District
Norman Sisisky's response: ``People say that an incumbent has
certain advantages. And that's certainly true. I guess we've dealt
with 100,000 people in cases. But also, an opponent has the
opportunity to criticize the incumbent's voting record, that the
opponent doesn't have. And that's where you get into negative
advertising. But I would hope to run a positive campaign. When I do
a commercial, I do it myself. I just talk and tell people what I
believe. And I tell people, `What you see is what you get with me.'
''
Anthony J. Zevgolis' response: ``It's easier, obviously, for
incumbents to present a program. But when you're a challenger,
you're faced with a dilemma. You have to give the voters a reason to
fire the incumbent, while at the same time give them a reason to
hire you. So you have to point out the flaws in someone else's plan.
I mean, I could just present my plan. But unfortunately, because of
voter apathy, it almost becomes a necessity to point out the flaws
in another person's plan, and then tell them why your plan would
work better. But certainly, if you stay to the issues and don't
personally attack someone's character and their own personal
reputation, that's OK.''
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