DATE: Sunday, September 21, 1997            TAG: 9709200123

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Opinion

SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:  118 lines

LIGHTS! CAMERA! POLITICS! LET THE TELEVISION ADS BEGIN

Hello, Virginia. They're b-a-a-a-ck for a new fall season. Forget ``E.R.'' and ``Party of Five.'' It's those everlasting political ads I'm talking about. In a state where an election is never more than a few months away, a commercial crop surfaces each September as predictably as the Emmys and Miss America.

Already, in an evening of television, you probably can't escape a sighting of Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr. or Republican James S. Gilmore III, who're running for governor. Wait a few weeks, until the candidates for attorney general and lieutenant governor join in, and the regular programming will start to look like book ends propping up a political digest.

Trouble is, of course, we've all learned the hard way to expect as much truth from such ads as sirloin in a McBurger. Candidate A may level with you at the start. But by the time Candidate B either a) obfuscates or b) lies, things start to get dicey.

Candidate A retorts with a grainy, black-and-white, slow-motion, distorted view of B, which leads B to REALLY get mad, which causes everyone watching to either stay home or vote for the candidate they dislike least.

This, of course, would never happen in Virginia, and certainly not in 1997. (Oh, yeah?) The Gilmore-Beyer commercials, so far, have been a relatively dignified lot, with only a smattering of Don-or-Jim-poses-as-Sirhan-Sirhan photos tossed in for spice. (There's still time.)

For the uninitiated, here's a brief guide to the dozen-or-so ads that have already run, plus some hints for future viewing:

OVERALL STRATEGY: Gilmore believes he can't talk enough about his plan to cut the personal property tax on cars and trucks. That's why four of his eight ads have highlighted it. But he also can't concede the education issue to Beyer. So, he's stressing that he wants to hire 4,000 new teachers, while claiming that Beyer just wants a $400 million pay raise for teachers already on the payroll.

Meanwhile, Beyer wants to keep the focus on education. All but one of his ads so far talk about it. Beyer has a multi-faceted plan for ``making Virginia's schools the best in the nation.'' Unfortunately for him, the plan doesn't sound especially impressive when it's reduced to a 30-second spot.

HIGH-BLOWS/LOW-BLOWS: Anxious to draw a contrast with Gilmore on education, Beyer ran the first negative ad of the campaign. It points to Gilmore's former opposition to accepting federal Goals 2000 education money, and his support of a 1995 tax cut that would have reduced an increase in education funding by $90 million.

Both are legitimate issues, as is Gilmore's complaint that Beyer would invest too much in teacher salaries. They deserve debate. What they don't deserve is footage making the opponent look like a candidate for ``America's Most Wanted.''

WINNERS OF THE `LITTLE-SIR-ECHO' SOUND-ALIKE CONTEST:

Speaking of education plans, here's Beyer's, as reduced to television-speak.

Smaller class sizes.

More discipline in the schools.

Higher standards and mandatory testing.

An end to social promotion.

And here's Gilmore's.

4,000 more teachers to reduce class sizes.

Remove drugs and gangs from schools.

Raise academic standards now.

Don't pass students unless they earn it.

Is there a mole in somebody's ad agency? Or are the candidates really so simpatico that even the order is the same?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: For Gilmore, the hands-down winner is an unidentified shipyard worker who tells the candidate: ``You're the one that's going to get rid of that property tax. You've got my vote. . . '' Expect to see a lot of Mr. X this fall.

For Beyer, it's 2-year-old daughter Grace, who confirms his commitment to education by reciting her ``A-B-Cs.'' Sister Claire does a cameo appearance as well.

BEST SINGLE LINE: For Beyer, ``I'll tell you. . . I've got absolutely no sympathy for anybody who will hurt children.'' In a one-two punch, he sounds tough on crime and soft on children.

For Gilmore, it's Gov. George Allen's cheery endorsement: ``Jim has a great plan to eliminate the personal property tax on our car, van, or pickup. It's a perfect way to help you share in Virginia's success."

Folksy and Reaganesque as ever, Allen assures voters that they have a ``right'' to that tax money.

(Why, by the way, does Gilmore so seldom speak to the camera himself?)

BIGGEST REACH: For Beyer, it's the assertion that Gilmore ``favors a radical plan to take money out of the public schools and put it in private and religious schools.'' Presumably, he's talking about vouchers, or use of public money to pay private tuitions.

In fact, Gilmore is more skeptical of the idea than many Republicans. He says he's willing to consider the concept, but hasn't found a plan he supports. And while the idea may be ``radical'' to some, it's come to be pretty mainstream in GOP circles.

For Gilmore, it's the unqualified claim that ``Jim Gilmore will abolish the car tax.'' There are a half dozen good reasons why that might not happen: constitutional problems, a downturn in the economy, a balky legislature, among them.

It may be good politics for Gilmore to be so definite. But the assertion doesn't exactly square with the tag line on the same ad: ``Honesty, integrity, character.''

PREVIEWS: Expect to see Beyer hitting hard on the Allen administration's environmental record and on his endorsement by the Fraternal Order of Police. And it will be illuminating to see how Beyer responds to Gilmore's tax plan. So far, he hasn't - on television.

Gilmore probably will continue to surround himself with popular pols such as Allen and Sen. John Warner. He'll talk tax cut, tax cut, tax cut. And he'll try to shore up his education credentials, perhaps by letting us hear from his wife, a former public school teacher.

BEST VIEWING HINT: Neither of these men is sinister. You wouldn't mind if they lived next door. Anyone who suggests otherwise is making it up. Or, worried about losing an election. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

Graphic

BEYER'S STRATEGY

GILMORE'S STRATEGY

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm] KEYWORDS: ELECTION VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE VIRGINIA

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