In his State of the Commonwe.dlh message on the

In his State of the Commonwe.dlh message on the assembly's opening' day Robb gave a i_' j <■ <• i i light to the passage of bills w Inch would have cleared the n i, im- both the coal slurry pipeline.and uranium mining in the afe. The lawmakers declined to na-s them, however, and the ; ‘M i nor remained silent, at least publicly, on the subject of boi h measures. With the defeat of the bills, which was for the mest part Ainlamented, the prosP s dimmed that either could bo successfully revived next 'ear.

fhe governor also steered clear of the bill which was withdoubt

the most emotioni hnrgod of the session. That was the measure which, in its original form, would have required young women under age 18 to receive t he consent of either a parent or a judge before obtaining an abortion. 1’he bill was amended to allow the women to be counseled by an independent physician instead of obtaining judicial permission*. Thus, having received a proper “shad treatment,” the measure died a protracted death on the last day of the Assembly.

Robb. to be sure, has been roundly criticized by both the proponents and opponents of i he.-1* and other measures for not having gotten involved in the swirling committee and floor batbo-. which they generated. His refusal to do so, however, was entirely consistent with both his concept- of political strategy and what lie likes to call his style.

Robb does not believe in squandering political capital on iffy causes when it might be betVr invested in advancing plans and programs to which he and his administration are firmly committed. He fully subscribes to the view of old Otto von Bismarck who held that “politics is 'he art of the possible,” (Bismarck also described it as “the art of the next best.’’)

1 here are those, of course, even m Robb’s own Democratic party, who quarrel bitterly with hi- approach. They would like to have seen him play at the high 'takes t able on more of the issues bemiv the legislators.

Rut this is an election year in which, all 11)0 seats in the House "f 1 'elegates will be up for grabs, i also the year in which Vir.-••• will elect a governor, a i i ■ ■; ‘ t * ■ i i a n t go v e rnor and an attorgeiieral.

Thus every legis. ;'i decision was made with ■cic eye on next November. For ’ no law makers and the governor, n was not a time to live dangerously.

Riven the political climate of the tunes, and following Bismarck's dictum, it is probable that Robb got just about all out ot the ■ 1985 legislature he could ha' e expected to get.

R.v that measure, for the governor, it was a very good session, indeed.