
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 11, 1990                   TAG: 9006110094
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ROB EURE POLITICAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROWDY POLITICS UPHELD

Despite some signs that voters find negative politics repugnant, officials from both campaigns in last year's Virginia race for governor say their crucial mistake was not attacking at pivotal moments, according to a new book on the campaign.

"If the Virginia election was any measure, `the rowdier the better' may well be the rule in American politics," writes Margaret Edds in "Claiming the Dream: The Victorious Campaign of Douglas Wilder of Virginia."

Edds says Wilder's "principal regret is that he did not hit harder at his opponent in the last week of the contest" when the Democrat came under intense fire from Coleman.

Similarly, Coleman's top strategists now say "his key mistake may have been to devote two weeks in late September and early October to praising himself rather than attacking Wilder," a decision that accompanied a fall of 12 points in Coleman's polling numbers, the book says.

Although most voters say they dislike negative campaigning, Virginia's record turnout belies the theory that it dampens voter participation.

Although both sides used their share of attack advertisements, Edds said Coleman's brutal attacks on former Sen. Paul Trible during the Republican primary laid the groundwork for Wilder's success in tagging him as a vicious campaigner, she writes.

Edds' book says Wilder's elevation to become the first elected black governor is historic evidence "that color alone was no longer an absolute bar to election, no matter what the makeup of the citizenry or the prestige of the office."

Coleman's stand against all abortions except when the life of the mother is in question placed him in a defensive position, Edds wrote. She credited Wilder for cleverly framing his position not as one favorable toward abortion, but in libertarian terms of favoring a woman's right to decide the question without governmental interference.

But, she says the message on abortion "paled in importance beside those relative to race."

Although Coleman avoided overt racial appeals, Edds writes that his assault on the news media for applying a double standard to Wilder "ensured that the larger, unspoken message would be this: ` Do remember that my opponent is black.' "

Edds, is a Richmond reporter for The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star in Norfolk.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB