THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A15 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: COMMONWEALTH CONVERSATION
One of a series of interviews with Virginia's political leaders
conducted by Pilot editorial writer Margaret Edds. Cranwell is
Democratic House majority leader and delegate from Vinton.<
LENGTH: 118 lines
Is the growth of the Republican Party the major political trend in Virginia in the 1990s?
I think to say that there's been a growing Republican trend probably is a misstatement. There's probably been a greater allegiance to a conservative mind-set. The new folks coming into Virginia have not been able to distinguish Virginia Democrats from national Democrats. We have got to re-establish that we are not a liberal party; we're a moderate-centrist party, conservative with taxpayers but fair on social issues.
How did we get from V.O. Key's description of Virginia as a ``political museum piece'' to today's highly charged atmosphere?
We have got to look at the whole gamut of things. There's been a real influx of new people into Virginia, a more intense focus on the electoral process. We used to be a little old state whose elections didn't mean much to anybody but us. That's changed. The day after last year's election, the front page of USA Today focused on Democratic wins in Virginia and Kentucky. The 1990s flavor is more television, more high profile, more scrutiny or media attention.
Running through recent elections, what made Doug Wilder's historic victory in 1989 possible?
A number of things. I think Chuck Robb is probably as responsible as anybody for the election of Doug Wilder. When Chuck won, it moved the Democratic Party back to the center of the road. Then you had Jerry Baliles, a very mainstream governor.
When (former Democratic Party Chairman Larry) Framme put together the Wilder-Baliles coalition that defeated Dick Davis (for the 1989 Democratic gubernatorial nomination), it put Doug in the mainstream. Then, focusing on abortion choice and moving Marshall Coleman to the extremist position allowed him to be the more mainstream candidate.
The Republican Party chose Marshall Coleman, the worst candidate they could have chosen. Also, a lot of folks in Virginia are very proud of the fact Virginia as a Southern state could get beyond race. That doesn't take anything away from the tremendous race Doug Wilder ran.
In 1991, there were GOP gains in the legislature. When did you begin to feel threatened?
I have felt for the last 12 years that Republicans were doing a better job of recruiting candidates and were on message, and Democrats were lying around fat and happy thinking it could never happen.
What led to George Allen's defeat of Mary Sue Terry in 1993?
Some of the same things that favored Republicans at the national level in 1994. It was a combination of things. I don't think Mary Sue ever engaged the campaign. George Allen hit the crime issue at the exactly right moment in history. Democrats were framed as the liberal party. Republicans were framed as the conservative party.
Mary Sue had a tremendous opportunity right after the Republican convention. One of the local party chairs said after the convention that it was just like 1939; the only difference was the brownshirts weren't there. You could have started right away to put them into the extremist corner using that statement. Mary Sue wanted to put herself in a position to be a great governor. She spent the whole time trying to be a great governor and didn't focus on being a great candidate.
What were the dynamics that led to Chuck Robb's defeat of Oliver North in 1994?
That was simply the fact that there were not a majority of voters in Virginia who could suffer an Oliver North in the U.S. Senate. There were a lot of better choices than Oliver North.
Has Republican ineptitude or infighting been the saving grace for Democrats during the 1990s?
No question about it. But that's been both ways. We gave them the governorship for 12 straight years (from 1970 to 1982) because of our internal fights.
How did the Democrats manage to hold on in the legislature in 1995?
George Allen felt he had dealt a win-win hand for himself on his tax-cut proposal. I absolutely felt if we did not get ourselves organized and get out the fact that we are the mainstream party that has run the state well, we would lose.
Did George Allen help you?
No question, he overreached. He goes off to William & Mary and the Republican Governors Association and (New Jersey Gov.) Christie Todd Whitman is the belle of the ball. Three weeks later he comes back with the New Jersey-tax-plan-for-Virginia.
He overreached. Death thought about is not so bad; death confronted is a very serious thing. Newt Gingrich and George Allen have done us an enormous favor by letting voters confront (death) through the real hard part of their rhetoric.
Which is?
It hurts human beings. You're not just hurting old folks when you take health care away from them. You're hurting their children, too. It's easy to talk about the cuts, but when their reality is confronted, it's scary.
What did the Democrats do to prepare for the 1995 race?
A group of people met regularly starting in May: Dave Doak, Alan Diamonstein, me, Tom Moss, Don Beyer, Claire Guthrie, Gail Nardi, Al Smith, Mark Warner, a couple of political operatives. I was the principal hawk. I said you have to take Allen on. If you don't he'll come back to haunt you at every turn. I spent all of March and April traveling the state recruiting candidates. We settled on education as the central theme of our legislative races. There was no question where the focus had to be. It was a natural. We also developed a central fund-raising strategy for the first time for our legislative races.
Where does the state go from here politically?
I don't think you're ever going to see either party have the dominance we had when I first came to the General Assembly. There'll be some times when Republicans have control and some times when Democrats have control and some times when we split control. In Tennessee, the Democrats were down to 51, now they're back up to 62. If our statewide ticket runs as well as it should next year, we'll have an opportunity to pick up several seats in the House.
What is the greatest danger right now for Democrats?
For there to be something more than politics to Whitewater and for Bill Clinton to go down the tube. If he does, we'll be in for 25 years of Republican dominance (in Washington), and there'll probably be some domino effect of that here in the state. MEMO: These interviews by Margaret Edds were conducted for a book about
Southern politics in the 1990s. The Virginia chapter is being written by
Dr. Thomas Morris, president of Emory & Henry College, and Ms. Edds.
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW by CNB