Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 20, 1993 TAG: 9303220372
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
UNSENATORIAL
GOV. WILDER faces a political enemy more threatening to his popularity and prospects than his nemesis, U.S. Sen. Charles Robb.We refer, of course, to Wilder himself.
Much of what the governor said, denouncing Robb at a news conference Thursday, was true.
It's true that five Robb associates have pleaded guilty to federal charges because the contents of an illegally taped Wilder telephone call were leaked to the press.
It's true that, according to considerable evidence, Robb's staff engaged in questionable efforts to discredit the governor, to block probes of Robb's past and to divert attention from his personal problems.
It's true that, although the senator escaped indictment, "the blame" (as Wilder put it) "rests squarely on the shoulders of one man, who employed his top aides in shenanigans that had nothing at all to do with serving the people, and everything to do with protecting his career."
It's all true. And yet the question remains: Did Wilder have to say all this again, in the way he said it? Did venting his hurt and anger have anything at all to do with serving the people?
It's not likely to protect Wilder's career.
Indeed, the governor's public preoccupation with his own innocence and Robb's sins only seems to reinforce public perceptions of the feuding parties' moral equivalence.
By obsessing over past offenses, Wilder hurts himself more than Robb ever could. He misses the opportunity to appear - and to be - bigger, more statesmanlike, more senatorial than the incumbent he despises.
He also misses the point - assuming he wants to challenge Robb for his Senate seat - that Virginians won't nominate or elect Wilder merely in retribution, because Robb was unfair to him, because Wilder is an aggrieved victim. The electorate asks public officials not what they have done to each other, but what they can do for their constituents.
Wilder has plenty of achievements of his own to talk about, including his sound stewardship of state government during fiscally hard times. The distracting drama from the sandpile - this petty political battle of bruised egos - is getting old, and does not augur well for a Senate race.
Of course, some perspective here is called for. If a Democratic contest looks to be ugly, just peer if you dare into the heart of Republican darkness.
A highly touted candidate for the GOP nomination is a man who, by his own testimony, lied to Congress under oath, made deals with terrorists, diverted government money for his personal use and tried to cover up the deed, shredded official documents even as Justice Department investigators were probing his files next door, and for good measure subverted the Constitution and the rule of law.
This is a man who beat the rap on a technicality and now reflects on his record not with remorse, but with pride. The Democrats' peccadilloes fade in the shadow of Oliver North's past.
And there you have it. I-was-a-victim. I-was-not-indicted. My-convictions-were-overturned-on-appeal. What an array of campaign themes to attract an enthusiastic electorate!
Is it possible some strange conspiracy is striving to make Virginia politics the most bizarre in the country? It's almost enough to make one paranoid.
Keywords:
POLITICS