ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
note: above
A compromiser in an increasingly caustic Congress, Rep. L.F. Payne has joined the unprecedented number of House and Senate members this term who say they're calling it quits.
Monday, the Fifth District congressman became the 39th House member and the 26th Democrat to announce retirement in the midst budget battles and party squabbles.
Thirteen senators, including eight Democrats, have also announced their plans to leave Congress this term.
"These retirements are coming so fast and furious, it's hard to keep track of them all," said Norm Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C.
Moderate Democrats and some moderate Republicans are fleeing the Beltway in droves for one reason, Ornstein said: "Partisanship. There's simply a sense that the middle is a lonelier place to be, though it's a neccesary place to be.
"And the moderate Democrats, especially, are feeling less at home anywhere."
One of Payne's colleagues, Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, said, "It's a less pleasant working environment than it used to be, and that is because the debate tends to be influenced by the extremes."
Over almost nine years in Congress, Payne worked hard to forge ties with the Republican opposition. When the Democrats became the minority party after the 1994 elections, Payne helped form the Blue Dog Democrats - a coalition of moderate-to-conservative Southern Democrats who often voted Republican and encouraged compromise on the federal budget.
But Payne's views sometimes put him at odds with the left-leaning Democratic leadership.
"I think there's always room for moderates in Congress, but I think that [Payne] was not a part of the majority of his party in Congress," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, who worked with Payne on several projects, including securing congressional approval for routing Interstate 73 by Roanoke and Martinsville. "We had a very good relationship, in spite of being in opposition parties . . . He's a good friend. I'll miss him."
As a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Payne fought for tobacco farmers, textile mills, and better health care for rural Americans - all prime concerns of his constituents.
"I think L.F. Payne did as good a job as humanly possible of truly trying to represent the people," said Tom Mason, president and chief executive officer of Virginia Apparel Corporation in Rocky Mount. "Is he unique among politicans today? I guess I'd have to say he is."
Mason, who usually votes Republican, said, "Whether or not I agreed with every decision he made, I honestly felt like he weighed all the facts and made his decision based on what would be best for the people of his district.
"I don't think he ever made a decision just because it was good for L.F. Payne."
Back in Washington, Boucher said, "I think L.F.'s influence was growing. He is a widely respected man in the House. He is liked on both sides of the aisles. His nonconfrontational, substantive approach won him friends and respect and made him an effective legislator."
Yet, in a fractious Congress, representatives like Payne who wanted to write laws and make compromises that would benefit their communities became out-of-place, Ornstein said.
"While you've got Republicans talking with the Blue Dogs, they're not doing it because they want to, but because they think they have to.
"They would much rather build their majority with 235 Republicans, but they can't make it work tactically. If they could, they wouldn't spend two seconds talking with [moderate Texas Democrat] Charlie Stenholm or L.F. Payne."
"What we get now is a lot of vitriol and an overall sense that compromise is a dirty word," he said. "It's just not as fulfilling as it once was."
Like Payne, who is apparently considering a run for lieutentant governor in 1997, other retiring House members are looking to state office as an alternate way to serve the public, Ornstein said.
However, Congressional gridlock isn't the only factor influencing the flight of the moderates.
For Payne, it could be an issue of passion. Those who know him say the retiring congressman wanted to serve his community but didn't want to make it his life.
"He's a man who's never been enchanted with Congress," said University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato. "I honestly think the reason that he's not running again is that he is not now, nor has he ever been, in love with Congress."
Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, a Northern Virginia Democrat who is expected to run for governor next year, said: "In my conversations with him, he indicated that he never wanted to be a career politician.
"I think L.F. understands that public service is just that. It's public service. It doesn't completely define him. He has built a very successful business [and] this is a way for him to give back.
"I think he also understands that serving in Congress is not the only way to make a difference in Virginia. It's an important way, but it's not the only way."
Payne himself said his reasons for retiring were his own.
"In a sense, I think I've done my duty," he said. "Despite all the cynicism and pessimism that pervades our nation today, the House will continue to serve our democracy well - just as it always has."
Staff Writer Todd Jackson contributed to this story.
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