Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 21, 1993 TAG: 9404220001
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A18 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Howard Packett, a Salem City Councilman and businessman, is running against Morgan Griffith, a Salem lawyer, in this sprawling district that includes Southwest Roanoke County, Salem and eastern Montgomery County.
On the basis of his experience and community involvement, we endorse Packett.
To be sure, Griffith, the Republican, is a youthful and smart candidate, who in some ways has run the better campaign. He has been the more aggressive and outspoken in public appearances; he has seemed to want the office more passionately. In a district made more Republican by redistricting, Packett, the Democrat, has relied too heavily on state party functionaries' advice.
This race has not been pretty. Griffith at the outset accused his opponent of preparing to wage a ``whispering campaign'' about Griffith's parents, who were divorced when he was a child. Griffith alone raised this matter, however, and no such campaign has emerged.
Also strangely, both candidates have been hit for the clients they keep. Packett authorized a pollster to survey voters for negative issues that might stick to Griffith, including a sleazy question about a character Griffith once represented in his law practice. In turnabout, a Lewis-Gale Hospital political action committee endorsed Griffith at least in part because Packett's advertising agency has done work for the hospital's arch rival, Carilion Health Systems.
All of which, surely, is less relevant to the candidates' fitness for office than is the variance in their records and background.
Packett for nearly a decade has served on Salem City Council. During this time, he helped nudge his city into at least starting to contribute to programs and institutions whose benefits extend to the entire valley. His experience in local government would help inform his votes on, say, state mandates. Griffith, on the other hand, has no experience in local government, elective office or regional leadership.
Packett has contributed over the years to the valley's civic and cultural life - serving on the boards, for instance, of United Way, the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge, the science museum and the Council of Community Services. For the past two years he has been chairman of the Fifth District Planning Commission. Griffith is lacking in such service and credits.
Packett has run a successful business, and has been in the middle of regional economic-development efforts for 25 years. He wants to promote tourism and the area's potential as a center for fiber-optics industry. But he also has shown an appreciation for the economic importance of addressing social and health problems, such as infant health and teenage pregnancy, before they grow worse and more costly. Griffith's election would send yet another lawyer to the General Assembly.
Both candidates have talked about crime (Packett favors a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, Griffith opposes it, etc.) and other matters. But the No. 1 issue in the district is still economic development, which Packett claims as a specialty.
Both candidates have strengths and weaknesses, and their race has been a disappointing one. But Packett seems the better prepared to work - with the rest of the House delegation and with local leaders - for the good of this part of Virginia.
Keywords:
POLITICS ENDORSEMENT
by CNB