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in this season of political maneuvering, it’s time for the Democratic Party of Virginia to address reality.
Democrats must look beyond the party power structure and address the state’s voters if there are to be real contests for the state’s top elective offices — governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general — this fall.
Going into the party’s state convention June 7-8 in Richmond, there will be only four declared candidates for the three offices. Sen. L. Douglas Wilder of Richmond is the lone Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor and Del. Mary Sue Terry is unchallenged for the party’s attorney general nomination. Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Richard J. Davis of Portsmouth and Attorney General Gerald L. Baliles of Richmond are vying for the top spot on the ticket.
Barring unlikely drafts of alternative candidates at the state convention, Mr. Wilder and Miss Terry will have their nominations. They both are very capable leaders. But the facts that Mr. Wilder is black and Miss Terry is a woman will unfortunately affect their appeal among Virginia’s very conservative voters. That’s not to say they don’t deserve the nominations. They do.
But, the Virginia Democrats, like their counterparts in last fall’s presidential election, must overcome the perceptions that the party is more liberal than the electorate and that it is beholden to special interests.
If the Democrats are to meet those challenges to wage a real campaign against a solidly
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