Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 1, 1995 TAG: 9511010034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Playing off Woodrum's campaign slogan - "Woodrum Works" - Falkinburg's latest television ad again charges that Woodrum opposed abolishing parole. Actually, Woodrum was both for and against the parole abolition bill at different steps in the legislative process.
Here's a closer look at some of the charges:
TEXT: "He says he's working. But what is Chip Woodrum really working for? He says he's tough on crime. But he voted against ending parole for career criminals. He says he's conservative. But Chip Woodrum has one of the most liberal voting records in Richmond. After 16 years in office, Chip Woodrum says he's for change. But Woodrum has opposed Gov. Allen's reforms more than any other Roanoke Valley delegate. It's time for honest change and conservative leadership. It's time for Newell Falkinburg, delegate."
THE MESSAGE: Falkinburg charges that Woodrum, a 16-year incumbent, has been "part and parcel" of what Falkinburg views as the problematic results of a Democrat-led General Assembly - increased spending and taxes, "welfare in shambles" and "crime out of control." Falkinburg invited the news media to a viewing of the ad Monday and again accused Woodrum of being weak on crime, offering as evidence that Woodrum voted Sept. 29, 1994, against abolishing parole.
"Now he will try to tell you that this was a flawed bill and that later on he supported [it]," Falkinburg said. "The truth is he did everything he could to kill this bill."
THE RESPONSE: Woodrum did vote against the parole abolition bill on that date because, he said, he had concerns about funding for prevention programs. But after getting assurances from the leadership of both parties that his concerns would be taken up this year, Woodrum voted for the bill on final vote Sept. 30, 1994.
Falkinburg's reference to Woodrum as one of the most liberal House of Delegates members is based on the legislative report card compiled this year by the Virginia Family Council, a conservative lobbying group based in Springfield. Woodrum scored 13 out of a possible 100.
The council's grading scale includes such conservative litmus tests as tax-funded abortions, child custody by gays and voluntary school prayer.
On 16 pieces of legislation that the council used in its survey, Woodrum received a "family-friendly" vote on two - his vote in favor of a bill that restored the religious exemption for church-run day care and a vote against a bill that would have allowed a referendum on riverboat casino gambling.
"The report card I'm interested in is my report card from the voters of the Roanoke Valley, not some council," Woodrum said.
Anti-abortion leaders target Cranwell
Virginia's most prominent anti-abortion activist charged Tuesday that House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County, is trying to mislead voters about his support for a law requiring that parents be notified before an underage daughter can obtain an abortion.
A mailing for Republican challenger Trixie Averill had charged that Cranwell voted against bills requiring parental notification; Cranwell responded with radio ads claiming he has voted for parental notification.
Both are correct. Cranwell has voted both for and against various parental notification proposals over the years.
On Tuesday, Anne Kincaid, a member of Gov. George Allen's staff and the founder of the conservative Family Foundation, came to Vinton to charge that many of the parental notification bills Cranwell opposed were the ones that anti-abortion activists wanted the most. And she charged that the parental notification bills he voted for, or in one case sponsored, were so full of loopholes that they were really "counterfeit" bills opposed by "true" supporters of parental notification.
Adopting a Halloween theme - her news conference was decorated with orange-and-black posters that announced "the unmasking of Dick Cranwell" - Kincaid charged that Cranwell has "artfully and skillfully" deceived voters.
At issue is just how strongly the rules on parental notification should be written. For instance, the 1994 bill that Cranwell supported would have allowed underage daughters to notify adult family members other than their parents. Gov. George Allen vetoed the bill, saying it was better to have no law rather than a bad one.
But Cranwell, in his radio ads, says that while the bill didn't go as far as he wanted, he thought it was more important to get a law on the books that could be "strengthened" later. In the past, he has cited opposition from both anti-abortion activists and abortion rights activists as evidence that he was taking a moderate course on parental notification.
Keywords:
POLITCS
by CNB