Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 9, 1992 TAG: 9201090604
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE and WARREN FISKE
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
WILDER DROPS OUT OF RACE
Gov. Douglas Wilder abruptly withdrew from the presidential race Wednesday night, saying he could not find time to wage a national campaign and tend to Virginia.Wilder's surprise announcement came at the close of his State of the Commonwealth address to the General Assembly. There was an audible gasp in the House of Delegates chamber.
"Long before I announced for president, I said that if it became too difficult for me to govern the commonwealth and conduct a presidential campaign, I would terminate one endeavor," Wilder told the legislature and a statewide television audience. " . . . Therefore, I stand before you to state that I am hereby withdrawing from the presidential race."
Wilder's departure came as his 4-month-old presidential campaign appeared to be lagging in momentum, cash and substance. Recent polls showed him running last among six Democratic candidates in New Hampshire - site of the first presidential primary, although he had shown signs of strength in Maryland and South Carolina, two other early primary states.
But Wilder, who in recent interviews had insisted he would remain in the campaign at least through the Super Tuesday primaries March 10, did not address the sagging fortunes of his campaign in his withdrawal statement. Instead, he said he needed to focus his full efforts on solving Virginia's economic problems.
"I have called on the citizens of Virginia to give unselfishly," he said. "I have said this is a time for some of us to forego that which they had intended to achieve.
"How hypocritical it would be of me to seek to lead in times like these without giving my all."
Wilder suggested that he was stung by criticism at home that he was not devoting enough time to Virginia, and by national pundits who said he was not giving ample energy to his campaign.
Wilder declined to answer questions after his speech, saying only that he intended to have dinner with several family members who were visiting.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a non-candidate this year but a longtime Wilder rival, said he was surprised by the decision, but that the governor's reasons for quitting "were sound."
Former Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas, one of the remaining Democratic candidates, said of Wilder: "I am sorry to see him leave the race. Governor Wilder was uniquely positioned to make a strong contribution to the debate on equal opportunity and access as well as fiscal responsibility. . . . It will be less of a campaign without him."
Virginia Republican Party Chairman Don Huffman took Wilder's reasons for withdrawing from the race with some skepticism.
"He went in an unknown and he went out an unknown," Huffman said in a television interview after the announcement.
Huffman said state Republicans no longer will have such an easy target for criticism, now that Wilder will be spending more time at home. "It's been great cannon fodder for us," he said.
Former state Sen. Granger Macfarlane of Roanoke - whose defeat in November's election has been attributed in part to his closeness to the unpopular governor - said he believed Wilder scored a victory of sorts during his brief campaign. "He's going to be a man to be dealt with at the Democratic convention.
"I think clearly the governor has become the leading voice in black politics, and that's going to stay with him through the convention and probably longer," said MacFarlane.
Warren Campbell, chairman of the Democratic Party in Roanoke County, said, "I think it was obvious to anyone that his campaign wasn't going well and was hurting him at home and hurting his effectiveness."
Campbell said that attitude among voters hurt local Democratic candidates in November's election and likely would have continued to hurt future candidates as well if Wilder had continued his presidential bid.
Staff writer Mark Morrison contributed to this story.
NOTE: AP story ran in State.
Keywords:
POLITICS