ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 22, 1996 TAG: 9609230074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE AND ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITERS
NOTE: Below
THEY want Abe Lincoln's reasoning and George Patton's grit.
King Solomon's wisdom, Mother Teresa's humility, Nelson Mandela's conviction and the kindness and compassion of Jesus Christ.
When Virginians go to the polls Nov.5, they'll be looking for more than just someone who will vote this way or that, a survey by The Roanoke Times makes clear.
They want leadership. And they'll make some sacrifices to get it.
In a poll of 672 voters taken this summer, Virginians said they care nearly as much about a candidate's leadership qualities and character as his or her stand on such issues as crime, education and the economy.
In interviews last week and in a series of small community meetings across the state this summer, voters rattled off a common list of esteemed leaders: Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Martin Luther King. They had a more difficult time identifying the qualities of political greatness. But the upshot was: Give us honesty, forethought, and a little backbone and we'll respect you, even when we disagree.
"It really doesn't matter to me their exact position on this issue or that issue because it's going to evolve over their period in office anyway," said Henry Sullivan, a Roanoke consultant. "What I want to know is `Can I trust them?' because I sure don't know enough about what they're doing to make a judgment on whether they're right or wrong."
Or, in the words of Wayne Fulp, a parking lot supervisor from Roanoke County, a leader is "honest, someone you could trust your life with, someone who has your best interest in mind." The leader he most admires? Patton, the World War II general. "He was hard but had to be hard," Fulp said.
Other Roanokers had even loftier role models in mind. Joanna Groseclose, a Roanoke County caregiver and artist who values maturity and experience, said the Biblical King Solomon was her idea of a leader because "he had faith in himself and God." Cherise Cochran, a legal secretary from Roanoke County, cited Christ because she values someone who acts on principle. "When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and faced with death, his prayer was to be taken," she said. "If it was God's will, it was right."
The poll shows only 23 percent of Virginians think elected officials have a responsibility to always vote the wishes of their constituents. Two-thirds would rather have leaders who work hard to learn the public's point of view but then vote what their conscience tells them is best for the most.
When asked, hypothetically, whether politicians should close a military base for the good of the nation or keep it open for the good of Virginia and their political hides, nearly 60 percent said shut it down.
"People admire a politician for making a tough decision, even if they disagree with that decision," said Bill Wood, head of the Virginia Institute of Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.
"That's how I define leadership - the ability to make a difficult political decision that can injure you politically but is still the right choice."
Other top qualities Virginians seek in a leader, according to the poll, include an understanding of what "real life" is for most people, consistency and fairness, and an ability to explain the limitations of government and how issues connect with voters' everyday lives.
Traditionally, leaders surface during times of war and international crisis. For example, of the five presidents most commonly cited by scholars for exerting great leadership - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt - all but Jefferson rallied the nation in times of war (and in Roosevelt's case, the Great Depression, too).
The nation is at peace now, but the need for strong leadership has not diminished, said former Rep. William Whitehurst, R-Norfolk. Whitehurst, who served in Congress from 1968 to 1986, said the greatest challenge facing lawmakers is to summon the courage to convince the public that entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare must be cut if the federal deficit is to be significantly reduced.
"The entitlement programs will just destroy us unless Congress and the president get together and tell the public we've got to do something about it," he said.
"We're in a damn tough bind with this," Whitehurst added. "Of course, people want good leadership. But they also want their Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. It's going to be the real test of leadership in the next four years."
To be successful in elected office, Whitehurst said legislators must master a number of leadership skills that the public often overlooks. Tough-talking ideologues sometimes bedazzle the crowds, but they are rarely effective making laws.
Effective politics is an art of compromise, Whitehurst and others noted, and its greatest practitioners are those who keep an open mind and are approachable.
"Compromise is terribly important," Whitehurst said. "The Constitution was a series of compromises." Whitehurst recalled of his legislative days: "I got half a loaf so often that I didn't know what a full loaf looked like."
The two contestants in this fall's U.S. Senate race - three-term incumbent Republican John Warner and Democratic businessman Mark Warner - are both described by their colleagues as strong consensus builders who promote compromise.
John Warner, 69, has steeled his leadership style through three decades of public service that, before his 1978 election to the Senate, included a stint as secretary of the Navy.
His most visible display of leadership came in 1994 when he defied the conservative wing of the state GOP by refusing to support Oliver North, the party's nominee for the U.S. Senate. Many Republican leaders said Warner, out of party loyalty, was obligated to back North and accused him of betrayal.
Warner maintained that he was following his conscience. He accused North, the central figure of the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, of being dishonest and unfit for office. Many Republicans still blame Warner for North's defeat and sought to deny him the party's nomination this year.
Associates say Warner usually displays a far more subtle form of leadership. The senator rarely locks himself in a position and prides himself on keeping good personal relationships with colleagues from both parties.
"He's someone others go to to work things out because he's a voice of reason and he's able to walk the middle ground to get things done," said Peter Loomis, a former press secretary to Warner.
Mark Warner, too, prides himself on being an arbiter. "He virtually insists on being the leader in any room that he is in," said Jim Murray, one of five managing directors of Warner's telecommunication company. "He has a unique ability to walk into a room, listen to a description of part of the facts and find some resolution."
Those skills came to bear when Mark Warner, as chairman of the state Democratic Party in 1994, quietly helped negotiate an end to a long-standing feud between former Gov. Douglas Wilder and U.S. Sen. Charles Robb. Many believe Wilder's last-minute endorsement of Robb that year was responsible for Robb's narrow re-election to the Senate in 1994.
"Maybe Mark is not the most patient person in the world, but it is very difficult to find any good leaders who are exceedingly patient, I think," Murray said. "His strength is in cutting to the point and making the decisions when they need to be made."
Staff writer Jon Cawley contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 132 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by staff: What Virginians want in a senator. KEYWORDS: MGR POLITICS CONGRESS POLITICIS PRESIDENTby CNB