Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 10, 1993 TAG: 9304100028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
ROBB MAY GET A FIGHT
Sylvia Clute, a prominent Richmond lawyer who has battled for the rights of women and child sex-abuse victims, said Friday she is considering challenging U.S. Sen. Charles Robb in next year's Senate race.Clute's interest in the seat held by the embattled Democrat adds intrigue to a political contest that is already threatening to assume epic dimensions. Gov. Douglas Wilder, who claims he has been victimized by a wire-tapping scheme contrived by former Robb aides, already has hinted he may seek the party nomination or run as an independent to derail Robb's bid for a second term.
Clute said the high-profile blood-letting between the two Democrats - including Wilder's most recent charge that Robb escaped criminal prosecution because of favoritism in a Republican Justice Department - is a key reason she is considering a bid.
"Running for public office is not something I have relished, but I have sat by and waited for someone to come forward," Clute said. "I can't imagine any citizen being proud of what's going on. I think a lot of people share my concern. There are simply more important things to do."
Clute has maintained a forceful, if quiet, presence at the General Assembly for 15 years, slowly persuading the predominantly male legislature to recognize and punish marital rape and provide equality in inheritance and marital property laws.
She was instrumental in winning support in 1991 for legislation that would allow victims of child sexual abuse, who often bury memories of the abuse for years, to file civil lawsuits against their attackers after the normal statute of limitations expired. Victims would have up to their 28th birthday to file suit, as long as they filed within two years of the time a professional diagnosed a link between an emotional disorder and the early abuse.
The Virginia Supreme Court last year overturned the law, determining that the legislature had no power to change the statute of limitations for claims that already had been time-barred. But with the help of Sen. Joseph Gartlan, D-Fairfax County, Clute and others worked to engineer passage of a constitutional amendment this year to reverse the effect of the Supreme Court decision. That amendment has to be approved in two consecutive legislatures and then approved by voters in a referendum before the General Assembly could pass legislation specifically drawn to permit such lawsuits.
If all those hurdles are crossed, the referendum would appear on the ballot in 1994, the same year Clute would like to see her name in the Democratic column for the U.S. Senate.
Clute said her decision to fight Robb for the Democratic party nomination will hinge on the outcome of a poll she has commissioned from the Alexandria firm of Cooper & Secrest Associates Inc. She has just begun a campaign to raise $27,000 to pay for the poll.
Although a lifelong Democrat, Clute acknowledged she is not a party insider and does not have name recognition or access to the traditional funding pipeline that has fueled the big Democratic statewide wins of the last decade.
But in addition to tapping traditional female constitutencies, she said she also plans to talk to Democrats she believes are eager to shed the baggage of the Robb-Wilder fight.
"What I've always been able to do is give a voice to elements of society that otherwise would have had none," she said. "The change that resulted from that has been very important for everyone."
In a sense, she is counting on her political naivete to appeal to disaffected Democrats, including legions of women who are upset with Robb's vote to confirm Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Virginia Commonwealth University political scientist Robert Holsworth said the race provides a "natural opening" for a female candidate willing to take on Robb's Supreme Court vote as well as allegations of womanizing and extramarital affairs during his tenure as Virginia's governor from 1982-86.
But he questioned whether Clute has the name recognition - or the money - to pull off a win. The party has yet to decide whether the Senate nominee will be decided by convention or primary.
"If it's a convention you have to win the votes of activist insiders and that would be a difficult task," Holsworth noted. "If it's a primary, you have to be on television," which requires an infusion of thousands of dollars.
University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato suggested that Clute "could end up being a protest candidate in the Democratic nominating process, benefiting from women's disaffection with Robb's vote on Clarence Thomas." But he predicted a poll will only confirm that "99.8 percent will never have heard of her, including some political analysts."
Democratic Party Chairman Mark Warner, a close friend of Wilder's, said he was not even aware of Clute's interest in the Senate seat but conceded his attention was on the upcoming statewide elections and not 1994.
"I think the Democratic party's focus needs to be on 1993, which means electing Mary Sue Terry and growing our majority in the legislature."
Holsworth said the more intriguing prospect would be if Wilder teamed up with a female candidate like Clute to raise the character issue against Robb.
Wilder has railed publicly against Robb ever since he found out that a Robb confidante secretly taped one of Wilder's cellular phone conversations in 1987 and then turned over the tape to Robb's office. On the tape, Wilder laughingly suggested Robb's political career was finished because of the continuing rumors about Robb's social life while governor and his alleged affair with former beauty queen Tai Collins.
Three former Robb aides, the man who made the tape and the Robb friend who delivered it to Robb's office all have since pleaded guilty to federal misdemeanor crimes related to the release of the tape to the news media, a move designed to embarrass Wilder.
Clute said others have encouraged her for years to seek political office or a judgeship. But Clute, who turns 50 next Thursday, said this year seemed right. Her youngest child graduates from high school in June, "so all the pieces are coming together."
For Linda Call, a Roanoke activist with Virginians Against Sexual Assault, the prospect of a Clute candidacy is extremely appealing and she predicts Clute could mount a battle against the two Democratic powerhouses.
"I think if anybody can, Sylvia Clute can," said Call. "She's not a fire and brimstone person but she is very enthusiastic about what she does."
Robb's campaign director, Susan Platt, refused to comment on the potential Clute candidacy, saying only that she had heard stirrings of it.
Keywords:
POLITICS