
DATE: Tuesday, October 14, 1997             TAG: 9710150765

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: DECISION '97

SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE AND MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITERS 

                                            LENGTH:  148 lines

IF YOU COULD SIT DOWN WITH THE CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR, WHAT WOULD YOU TALK ABOUT?THESE HAMPTON ROADS CITIZENS HAD THAT CHANCE, AND THESE ARE THEIR IMPRESSIONS. TONIGHT, YOU CAN SEE THE RESULTS OF THEIR CONVERSATION.

What happens when citizens try to peek behind the television commercials to get a glimpse into the true natures of the two men running for governor?

A group of South Hampton Roads citizens recently tried to do that. After 26-minute conversations with Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr. and Republican James S. Gilmore III, this is what they concluded:

Each candidate is a real politician - and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

But citizens still want to get a better feel for the character and values of the candidates.

``I had hoped for a more free flow of information,'' said Brian Kirwin, 28, a planning analyst in Virginia Beach. ``Instead of six people interviewing the candidate, I was hoping to see him involved in a group discussion as just another citizen.''

Neither candidate broke new ground in his political pronouncements, participants said, but the citizens found each to be knowledgeable about state affairs and far less threatening in person than their opponent's negative television ads make them out to be.

``I feel a little better about him,'' said Billie Montgomery-Cook, 46, a homemaker and writer who lives in Portsmouth, after watching Gilmore sit at a round table and answer questions from the citizens panel. ``I didn't know anything about him except what I'd seen on those horrendous commercials. He seems to come across as a professional.''

The bad part was that the panel found that both candidates were distancing themselves by lacking in candor.

``They don't listen to questions,'' complained Ralph Burger, 63, a retired Army master sergeant living in Hampton. ``They just listen for cues. If they hear the word `transportation' in a question, then they immediately give you their stock transportation answer.''

The citizen experiment in interviewing candidates was part of the Your Voice/Your Vote project, sponsored by a partnership among the Hampton Roads news media.

Voters questioned and observed the candidates in separate conversations with them. The discussions were videotaped for television broadcast starting at 8 p.m. today on Channel 4, Local News on Cable.

Divided into three groups, the 14 citizens devised and honed the questions, and chose six representatives to ask them at roundtable sessions.

Belinda Anthony, a Portsmouth fourth-grade teacher, said she ``had butterflies'' when called to ask her question. She settled down after taking a deep breath and counting to three.

Here is what Kirwin said of the experience:

``That was a new way of thinking. That was a neat exercise. Instead of trying to think about whether I agreed with what he was saying, I tried to think about whether he did a credible job explaining himself.''

The citizens were asked to put aside their own political views as they considered the candidates' responses.

Kirwin, who tutored younger students in high school and college, compared the experience to how a teacher would review a student's answer on an essay test:

``I may not agree with the student's argument, but I'd want to be satisfied that he had a grasp of the material and was specific in his answer - that he had the right amount of detail, experience with the issue, and demonstrated that he has proficiency in the problem. I didn't want the answers to be like an essay that is wordy and rambled.

``It's one thing to say that some issue is very important to you and that you will fight for it. But it's another to say, ``Here's how I see the problem, here's my solution, and here's how I can implement it.' ''

Citizen panelists were divided about what they heard and how the candidates came across. Perhaps citizens were looking for two often-competing qualities - a leader who shows a convincing command of an issue but talks with you as a neighbor sitting at your kitchen table.

``From what I saw tonight, I think that's why you've got a 50-50 governor's race right now. Some of his (Beyer's) answers were real good . . . others were below par. It didn't sway me either way,'' said Tracey F. Settle, 41, of Newport News, a calibration supervisor for the Navy.

Settle said he probably will not decide how to cast his vote for governor until he's in the election booth.

``I thought they (Beyer's answers) were overly rehearsed. . . . Sometimes his answers were too much. I couldn't keep up with what he was saying,'' said Teresa Diehl, 37, a juvenile parole officer in Hampton.

``I thought (Beyer) answered the questions. . . . He seemed to be specific, but he didn't guarantee he was going to do it, either,'' said Susan Merling, 56, a transportation clerk living in Virginia Beach.

Burger, the retired Army master sergeant, said of Beyer: ``I don't think he was specific. I think he was beating around the bush.''

Nor did Burger give a great review to Gilmore, who he said had appeared very defensive at the Oct. 6 debate in Richmond. ``He seemed more at ease talking to us. I just wonder whether he can answer a question `yes' or `no.' ''

Rudy Langford also wanted more specifics from Gilmore. ``He just played politics with all of the questions. He lacked substance and spoke in generalities. If Mr. Gilmore would try to be more specific, he would come across as more articulate.''

Langford said Gilmore came across as far more moderate than he is depicted on Beyer's commercials. Beyer has depicted Gilmore as little more than a puppet for religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.

``He said he favors public schools and job training for those going off welfare,'' Langford said. ``Those things caught my ear. I have to give Mr. Gilmore credit. He seemed to be coming to the center rather than moving to the right like the Christian Coalition wants him to.''

Did the experiment help voters decide whom to vote for?

Kirwin was not among the citizens to ask the questions. He viewed the discussion on a TV monitor in another room. He hoped to hear a conversational tone.

``The roundtable setting was great. It was very civil,'' Kirwin said.

Would it help make up his mind? ``It didn't sway my vote. But it could if it was used in a primary where there's not that much difference between candidates or (in elections) where candidates are not that distinctly defined.

``It gives you great insight into their values. As much as they may have rehearsed their answers or answered something 100 times before, sooner or later you get . . . the defining moments where he'll . . . not only give an answer but defend it. And then you say, `Ah, this is what he believes.' '' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

Beyer

Gilmore

``It's one thing to say that some issue is very important to you

and that you will fight for it. But it's another to say, `Here's how

I see the problem, here's my solution, and here's how I can

implement it.' ''

- BRIAN KIRWIN

``He just played politics with all of the questions. He lacked

substance and spoke in generalities. If Mr. Gilmore would try to be

more specific, he would come across as more articulate.''

- RUDY LANGFORD

``I thought they (Beyer's answers) were overly rehearsed. . . .