Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 3, 1992 TAG: 9202030068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MR. ? GOES TO WASHINGTON
MR. ? GOES TO WASHINGTON Today the Roanoke Times & World-News begins an occasional column about the 6th District congressional race to succeed retiring Rep. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke. It will appear on Mondays.
EDWARDS-FISHWICK SHOWDOWN LOOMING OVER UNION ENDORSEMENT
Look for the first big clash of the campaign to come (if it hasn't already) over which of two Democrats gets the AFL-CIO endorsement - John Edwards or John Fishwick.
It's a classic confrontation of top-down strategy vs. bottom-up. Edwards has long ties with some key labor leaders, such as state AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Jim Leaman, many of whom urged him to run for attorney general in 1985. (He didn't.) That made him the initial favorite. But Fishwick has lobbied the unions hard, especially the rail unions in Roanoke - his father ran the Norfolk & Western for 11 years - and his announcement was packed with union workers.
There are some catches to Fishwick's approach, though: The rail unions traditionally have not played a leading role in the Roanoke Central Labor Council. There also are two other labor councils in the district, in Staunton and Lynchburg, where rail unions don't count for much either. And the ultimate endorsement comes out of the AFL-CIO's political committee in Richmond, anyway.
A screening committee - composed of three people from each of the labor councils - met with the candidates in Roanoke Saturday, and an endorsement could come as early as this week. Smart money still rests on Edwards.
As for the third Democrat, Vinton insurance man Steve Musselwhite? Labor's said to be cool on him, partly because they don't care much for one of his chief backers - Vinton Del. Richard Cranwell.
BALILES TO STUMP FOR MUSSELWHITE
Musselwhite is getting a little help from his friends. First, Cranwell endorsed him. Now, former Gov. Gerald Baliles - who appointed Musselwhite to the state Transportation Board - is coming to Lynchburg on Saturday to campaign for him. Baliles has kept a low political profile since leaving the Governor's Mansion in 1990, but his endorsement could go a long way to filling in Musselwhite's credentials with party regulars. Many know Edwards and Fishwick, who have held various party posts, but don't know Musselwhite as well.
GOODLATTE LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FALL
Roanoke lawyer Bob Goodlatte is so confident of wrapping up the Republican nomination for the 6th District congressional seat - his only announced opposition dropped out last week - that his inner circle of advisers is already looking to the fall.
They're especially worried about the prospect that the Supreme Court might throw out the Roe v. Wade decision in midsummer, plunging congressional races around the country into the abortion rights firestorm. Virginia Republicans are especially mindful of how gubernatorial candidate Marshall Coleman got blindsided by the abortion controversy in 1989, so look for Goodlatte to do what Coleman didn't - fight back hard.
By the way, Goodlatte says his position on abortion is the same as President Bush's - that means he opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.
THE EDWARDS-SCALIA CONNECTION
Speaking of the Supreme Court, John Edwards has some friends in high places. Justice Antonin Scalia was one of his professors in law school, and the two have maintained their friendship through the years - despite their political differences. When Edwards was up for the federal prosecutor's job in Western Virginia in 1980, Scalia was one of the people who wrote a recommendation for him.
Any insight into the conservative justice? "People don't know he's an accomplished musician as well," Edwards says.