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By GEORGE BOWLES
The surprise announcement that a group of self-described moderate and conservative Democrats had f rmed a “Virginians for Baliles and Wilder” committee sent a wave of dismay, and caused not a little head scratching, through the Old Dominion’s political circles last week.
The purpose of the committee is to form a ticket, going into the state Democratic caucuses and nominating convention, consisting of Attorney General Gerald Baliles for governor and state Sen. Douglas Wilder for lieutenant governor.
Baliles is generally regarded as the candidate of the party’s more conservative wing. Wilder, who is black, is the Democrats’ only announced candidate for the lieutenant governor nomination. While Wilder rejects the liberal label, it is undeniable that he is drawing his principal support from the party’s more liberal constituent groups. It is also true that, as his nomination becomes all but certain, his candidacy is gaining a wider acceptance among the presiding elders from all points of the party’s political compass.
Still, if the ticket can be put together it will be, without doubt, the most spectacularly unlikely political marriage since conservative Republican Ronald Reagan announced, in his abortive 1976 presidential bid, that liberal Sen. Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania was his choice as a vice presidential running mate.
The committee, which its organizers say was formed without the specific authorization of either Baliles or Wilder, is headed by Lawrence A. Framme III, chairman of the 3rd District Democratic Committee, Jean Mundy, chairman of the 6th District Committee, and George Gilliam, former chairman of the 7th District Committee.
According to Framme, other leading Democrats around the state have signed on. They include National Committeewomen Dottie Schick of Fairfax, Vice Mayor Claudette Black McDaniel of Richmond, Sen. Edward Holland of Fairfax and Sen. Virgil Goode of Franklin. Also supporting the move is Richmond investment broker McLain T. O’Ferrall, long a stalwart of the party’s moderate to conservative wing.
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