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All this becomes very important when one takes the long view of Virginia politics.
The Republicans are not much worried about this year’s General Assembly elections or about next year’s U. S. Senate race. They would, of course, like to make some gains in the legislature in 1983, and they do not believe Sen. John Warner will have serious difficulty in his bid for re-election in 1984.
But their attention, and that of the state’s famed independent conservative coalition, is riveted on 1985. That is the year in which Virginia will elect a governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.
Control of the Governor’s Mansion is the key to real power in Virginia, and control of the party in a gubernatorial year means control of the nomination process, potentially of the campaign, and-if the cards are played adroitly—of the candidate himself. And victory means access to all of the gubernatorial goodies which come with the job.
It’s a prize worth fighting for.
Sen. Trible’s Republican critics are convinced he sees himself as the possible head of a new machine along the model of the old Byrd organization; a creator and manager of governors, and political leader of the Commonwealth. A step in that direction would be a sweep by his faction when the party reorganizes at next year’s convention.
To be sure, there are a few questions which will have to be answered about all this. For example, would Sen. Warner, former Gov. John Dalton and other GOP notables stand idly by and watch Sen. Trible become the political boss of Virginia if that, indeed, is his game plan?
It’s not likely, and their efforts to ward off the possibility could lead to a bloody donneybrook when the GOP meets in Hampton 10 months hence.
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