Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 4, 1993                   TAG: 9311040592
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: STUART                                LENGTH: Medium

IN PATRICK COUNTY, VOTERS FELT THAT TERRY FORGOT HER ROOTS

She knew what it was like to live on a farm, to be schooled in an ethic of hard work and independence. She rode the back roads and was not above spitting a little tobacco juice.

But somewhere on the winding road to Richmond, Mary Sue Terry's perspective changed just enough to raise the suspicions of the people who had nurtured her rise from the House of Delegates to the office of attorney general.

"The attitude seemed to be that she turned on their beliefs," said Michelle Rinaldi, owner of M & M's Car Care Center on U.S. 58 near Terry's hometown of Critz.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Rinaldi said her customers complained that Terry's support of gun-control measures and her staunch support of abortion rights did not coincide with the conservatism of her native county.

Southwest Virginia is a sportsmen's paradise, and those who hunt and count themselves members of the National Rifle Association were puzzled by her attacks on the NRA.

"You just can't forget your roots, and that's what happened here," said Eddie Turner, a longtime supporter who worked the polls for Terry. "People get their feelings hurt easily. The old Mary Sue they grew up with isn't the same person."

Tuesday, Patrick County turned on Terry for the first time in her political career. All but three of the county's 14 precincts went for Republican George Allen.

Amid the Wednesday morning post-mortems, there was a twinge of sadness and regret in the about-face, but also a sense that Terry had brought the debacle upon herself.

"I think she forgot the people who helped her go up the ladder," said a Stuart businessman who asked to remain anonymous. "She's made enemies - me for one. I feel sorry for her."

There were other compelling factors as well, residents point out. Terry was inevitably linked to Gov. Douglas Wilder and U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, fellow Democrats who have split the party and annoyed the electorate with their bickering. Allen's call for a change in leadership after 12 years of Democratic rule appealed to moody voters.

Allen also successfully linked Terry to President Clinton, who remains unpopular in Virginia. "I think people might have judged Mary Sue off of Bill Clinton," said James Horton, owner of the Critz Grocery.

"She just got caught in a time when everybody wants change," said Turner, owner of a home health care agency.

But there is also a feeling that Terry had become like other politicians who use rural Virginia as a campaign backdrop and then hustle back to Richmond for the real action.

If she understood the problems of rural localities, she allowed those problems to be dwarfed by the issues that dominate the state's urban crescent.

"If you are going to promote Patrick County as home . . . you have got to occasionally walk down the street," said lawyer Chris Corbett, former chairman of the Patrick County Democratic Committee and a Terry supporter. "If it's home, you're curious about it."

Corbett clerked for Terry and spent many hours driving her to campaign events when she was running for the House of Delegates. He remembers her humor and gift for spontaneous campaigning, but saw only occasional flashes of the "real Mary Sue" during the campaign.

He blames her coterie of campaign officials and advisors, who he said had gained a reputation in Patrick County for arrogance. Over time, the reservoir of good will Terry had built up over the years simply evaporated.

"I've yet to run into anyone who was mad at Mary Sue," said Corbett sadly. "Just that we've been ignored and maybe used."

Keywords:
POLITICS ELECTION