Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 24, 1993 TAG: 9310240155
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
In a speech outside the Fairfax County Jail, Allen accused Democratic rival Mary Sue Terry of being soft on punishing drug dealers.
Allen said the average time Virginia drug dealers spend in prison decreased from five years to 2.3 years when Terry was state attorney general, from 1986 to 1993. He accused Terry of making no effort to stop the declining trend in sentences.
"What Mary Sue Terry and the other liberal Democrats do not understand is that if violent criminals are behind bars, they cannot commit another crime, including selling illegal drugs," Allen said.
Allen's pledge to eliminate parole and impose longer mandatory sentences on violent criminals has become the centerpiece of his campaign and has helped him surge to leads varying between 7 and 17 percentage points in state public opinion polls.
Allen, however, said he is refusing to anticipate an Election Day victory Nov. 2. "I don't want to look at things that way," he said. "I'm trying to take one day at a time and keep running like I'm 10 points behind."
He added that Terry's attempts to portray him as a dupe of religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and other Christian conservatives has backfired. "People who know me know it's just not true," he said. "No one ever called me a religious extremist before this campaign began."
On a brief tour of the Fairfax County Jail, Allen seemed distressed to learn that one inmate was serving a 37-month sentence for writing bad checks. "It seems strange that you would serve more time than most drug dealers," said Allen, who has said the state should search for alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders.
The Republican started his day in Virginia Beach, shaking hands at a drug-education rally sponsored by local police and public schools. He quickly impressed Theressa Moore, a teaching assistant at Lynnhaven Elementary School. She asked for his position on abortion.
He replied that he is for "reasonable moderation," explaining that he believes parents should be notified before their daughters terminate a pregnancy, but he would not seek stronger restrictions against first-trimester abortions.
"I agree with everything he said," Moore said. "He's really made me lean towards him."
Allen had less success with a Virginia Beach deputy sheriff who refused to give his name. The sheriff, a former Navy man, applauded Allen's commitment to refund $470 million in taxes the state has improperly collected from federal retirees. But he said Allen's plan to eliminate parole, estimated to cost somewhere between $119 million and $1 billion, is more than the state can afford.
"I can't decide who to vote for this year," he said. "I'll end up supporting the lesser of two evils."
Allen flew to Richmond at noon to work a mostly black crowd of spectators entering the Gold Bowl football game between Virginia Union and Norfolk State universities. Although fewer than 10 percent of blacks traditionally vote Republican in Virginia, Allen said he was working the crowd to prove "that I'm not conceding a single vote."
The crowd, while cordial, did not seem enthusiastic about Allen. "I don't know much about this election, but I'm a Democrat, and I'll vote that way," said Duane Johnson, a graduate student at Virginia Union.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB