Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510270120
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This is unsurprising because: (1) Cranwell's savvy and energy as House majority leader have made him probably the most influential Democrat in Virginia state government; (2) Cranwell can be persistent, abrasive and a thorn in opponents' backsides; (3) his leadership of Democrats accounts, as much as anything, for the utter defeat of Allen's budget proposals in this year's session.
To view too much through a partisan prism, however, is to distort reality. Averill's experience as a political aide considerably outshines her familiarity with the substance of government. And, in terms of service to our region and the commonwealth, the past two years may have been the most worthwhile of Cranwell's long political career.
He has won deserved acclaim, for example, for the attempt to fight educational disparities with legislation to cut class size in early grades and to install computer technology in more schools. And that is hardly the limit of his effective effort and far-reaching influence. It's the kind of service that clearly merits his re-election.
To be sure, Cranwell has been guilty of overzealous partisanship and, in the past, some poor personal judgment. If Democrats lose control of the state House, Republicans won't soon forget insults, exclusion and gamesmanship they've been subjected to over the years. Nor should it be forgotten that Cranwell's business dealings at times have gotten him into trouble, when he seemed to confuse mere legality with the standards that public officials are expected to uphold.
In fact, however, Cranwell has not been an unyielding obstructionist. He can claim with some plausibility to have helped Allen efforts in welfare reform, parole reform and an out-of-court tax settlement with federal retirees, for instance. And, whatever his personal dealings that recede with the years, his continuing public record shows a deep and abiding commitment to serving the commonwealth, including its less-advantaged citizens.
Cranwell has been most critical of Allen on moves that deserve criticism - among them, the attempts to concentrate power in gubernatorial hands, including a gag order on state employees, and the administration's half-baked budget amendments proposed this year.
To get a tax cut, any tax cut, the governor was willing to reduce previously appropriated funds for public education and for Virginia's colleges and universities, and to gut state funding for such programs as Meals on Wheels, museums and community-based mental-health services. Even Averill, who otherwise touts her personal, political and ideological ties to Allen, says the proposed cuts were too hard and too concentrated on this region.
Worse, Allen's proposals betrayed a blindness toward the Virginia context, and a disconcerting misplacement of budget priorities. Virginia's tax burden already ranks among the lowest in the nation. One cost of getting through the recession of the early '90s without a tax increase was wrenching cutbacks, especially in higher education.
This isn't to say state government can't get more efficient. It certainly can. But hacking away at high-return investments, such as in education and preventive health services, is a strange way to go about the task. Nor is this to suggest we agree with every Cranwell position. We certainly don't. We'd like to see him show more receptivity, for example, to campaign-finance reform, cigarette-tax increases and the charter-school concept.
On the whole, though, Cranwell has exercised his considerable skills and influence well - using them both to advance causes benefiting Virginia and a region losing demographic clout, and to block initiatives with little to recommend them but ideological purity. If that be gridlock, let's have more of it.
Keywords:
POLITICS ENDORSEMENT
by CNB