THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240330
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Decision '96
LENGTH: 90 lines
John W. Warner (R): My greatest gift in life was to have strong, loving parents and their examples inspired me to public service. My father was a physician - surgeon, gynecologist - who devoted his time to helping others. He served his country in World War I as a combat zone doctor on the European front. My mother was a Red Cross volunteer in both World Wars and she generously gave to her community all her life. This foundation of parental teachings was followed by seven years of education at Virginia institutions. The ``honor codes'' of those schools I respect today.
Mark R. Warner (D): My parents weren't active in politics, but they were always involved in community affairs. My dad coached sports even after my sister and I were grown and he still works with the Police Athletic League and Habitat for Humanity. Both my parents were active with the PTA. My sister and I?20 learned from them about the importance of giving something back to the?20community. So while I have had the good fortune to live the American Dream, too many working families are struggling to get by. I want to make sure that every Virginian has the same opportunities that I had. 2ND DISTRICT
Owen B. Pickett (D): I grew up in Hanover County and it was the people who served in my community--especially George Weems, the county treasurer--who shaped my ideas about public service. I have not always participated in public life but I've always been fairly close to the process and saw how it worked. Weems had a very hands-on approach, very practical and pragmatic. He seemed to cut through the emotions and the rhetoric and get to the heart of an issue so that while not all agreed with him, a vast majority of people agreed with his position. That was true for the people at the state level of government as well. During this time I was between 15 and 25 years old and working part time at various jobs such as construction, farming, retailing, transportation.
John F. Tate (R): My most influential early experience was the example set by my parents. They were always givers--giving of themselves for public service. What impacted me most was the fact that they were in it for the causes they believed in, not for personal gain. 3RD DISTRICT
Elsie Goodwyn Holland (R): My experiences began at home. When I was 4 my family sent me to school, and that wasn't done then in rural areas of Virginia. You were supposed to be 6. I was into Head Start and kindergarten before it was fashionable. The principal and the superintendent and my family made it possible. Growing up with my family affected me. My grandmother raised 12 children and my granddad worked on a farm for a white man. My grandmother had a lot of faith in me and she was a leader in the community and at church. She and my mom and dad encouraged me to get an education, And we grew all our food in the garden. We took care of ourselves, and I see life existed before all those government programs.
Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D): My father served on the school board in Newport News in the 1950s, and that gave me an appreciation for the hard work involved in public service and the importance of the deliberative process. 4TH DISTRICT
Norman Sisisky (D): Growing up in the Depression and serving in the Navy in World War II, I learned the value of hard work as well as government's legitimate responsibility to provide social security or send veterans like me to school under the GI bill. I think investments like that pay big dividends to the taxpayer.
Anthony Zevgolis (R): Working in my father's cafeteria as a young man. It was a family-type restaurant. No alcoholic beverages were served. My brother's still operating it that way. As a result of that, families gather there, and local officials gather there. As a young man, I'd listen to their comments, and then I'd go in the back and ask my father about what I'd heard. I remember my father telling me that the Republicans were for the rich and the Democrats were for the poor. I don't agree with that, and I'm sure if my father were living today, he wouldn't agree with that either. The Republican party, I feel, is the real party of opportunity for all Americans. The other thing, too, is that as a young man I wanted to stay informed on current events, so I read a lot. Some of the things I read made my blood boil. I think everyone should get involved. And I think everybody ought to have the opportunity to run, whether they're rich or poor, man or woman, black, white, red or yellow.
KEYWORDS: CONGRESSIONA RACE CANDIDATE ISSUES ELECTION
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