Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 8, 1994 TAG: 9408080070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PETER BAKER THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
After the votes are counted, many losers disappear. Mary Sue Terry has hardly surfaced since her race for Virginia governor. Democrat Bill Dolan hasn't been heard from since he lost his race for attorney general last fall.
But the other loser in last fall's statewide election, Mike Farris, is different. Farris isn't going away.
In the nine months since the national spotlight followed his controversial bid for lieutenant governor, Farris has been a whirlwind of activity - influencing state policy in Richmond, lobbying Congress, campaigning for conservative takeovers of Republican committees and pelting moderate party figures like comet fragments slamming into Jupiter.
Instead of being discouraged by defeat, Farris seems energized. Instead of being shunned, he now is welcomed as a critical player in Virginia GOP politics and leader of its conservative Christian wing.
"I plan to be involved, whether I'm running for things or not, for the rest of my life," he said recently.
Few statements are so heartening to conservatives or depressing to liberals and moderates. But the continuing clout of a Republican candidate who received just 46 percent of the vote in a GOP landslide year defies conventional wisdom.
Farris has received key appointments from Gov. George Allen and drafted executive orders to reduce the burden of state regulations. He has formed his own political action group to funnel money to conservative candidates across the country. He recently testified before the U.S. Senate against Supreme Court nominee Stephen Breyer. And he is plotting openly to challenge Sen. John Warner, a fellow Republican, in 1996.
The measure of his influence within the Virginia GOP was clear during the battle over this year's Senate nomination. Although Farris rebuffed all pleas for an endorsement, both eventual nominee Oliver North and Jim Miller tailored their campaigns to appeal to his followers.
"Mike is a real player," said Michael W. Thompson, a longtime Republican strategist from Fairfax. "Mike certainly is going to continue to have a substantial influence in the party, and frankly he's earned that influence."
That's what scares Ann Stone, national chairwoman of Republicans for Choice. Stone said she believes Farris could help destroy the GOP.
North's nomination already has driven former state Attorney General Marshall Coleman out of the party and into an independent campaign for the Senate, she said, and Warner will bolt the party if challenged by Farris in two years.
"You'll see the emergence of a third party," Stone said. "Mike Farris will be the death of the party in Virginia, no doubt about it. He'll cause people who support Coleman or want to support Coleman and those who support Warner to walk out."
Good riddance, Farris said. As far as he's concerned, Warner and Coleman are the real traitors. Farris is anything but coy about his plans to challenge Warner, who refused to back Farris' 1993 campaign.
On the back window of his Ford Explorer, "Mike Farris" is still highlighted in foot-tall yellow letters first placed there during last year's campaign. Under it is a new bumper sticker: "Is it 1996 yet?"
"I am very interested in that possibility, and I'm trying to stay in position," he said. "I have not made a decision to run. I've made a decision to prepare."
During an interview at his home off a gravel road in western Loudoun County, Farris, a 42-year-old constitutional lawyer, displayed a thoughtful, engaging manner that belied the public image of a fire-and-brimstone evangelist.
He proudly showed off one daughter's sports trophies and recounted how her team barely lost this year's softball championship.
In a basement cluttered with his nine children's toys and playthings, he made sure to find the family's videotaped copies of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Cinderella," two movies he was accused of trying to ban in public schools.
His exceptionally large brood is often the subject of self-deprecating humor. The license plate on the family van says "9 KIDS." Mounted in his garage are discarded plates: "8 KIDS," "7 KIDS" and so on.
Farris' prescription for political revival includes showing off that side of himself - and convincing critics that it is real.
His strategy starts with the Madison Project. Based out of a farmhouse-like office near his home, the organization is intended to be a conservative, anti-abortion version of Emily's List, the liberal fund-raising group that supports female Democratic candidates who favor abortion rights.
This year, Farris plans to help five conservative Republican challengers in Virginia and five in other states. They will be selected after filling out a questionnaire: Do they oppose abortion, gun control and government debt? Will they vote to abolish the Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts?
Farris then will ask 5,000 project members to chip in $10 to each of five candidates.
Aside from that, he is busy working on projects such as Allen's strike force to streamline Virginia government.
He recently was appointed to the Education Commission for the States - an ironic assignment for a man who educates his children at home and once called public schools a "godless monstrosity."
The activity is aimed at burnishing his image after last year's devastating Democratic attack, which painted him as a radical right-wing demagogue.
The next time he runs, he said, the opposition won't be able to demonize him. "The difference is I won't be an unknown," he said.
"I'll have a broader track record on issues ... and I'll have money."
Some Democratic strategists agree that Farris should not be underestimated.
Pollster Alan Secrest said that even in losing, Farris did better than Terry.
And after the Democrats' blistering advertising campaign, Secrest said, Farris might be inoculated.
"You can't rule him out," he said. "It's wishful thinking; it's whistling past the graveyard to count out Mike Farris' political future."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB