Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 5 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
By GEORGE BOWLES
The bloody political exercise which is passing for this year’s effort by Virginia Democrats to choose a nominee for governor should convince the party panjandrums of at least one spectacularly self-evident truth. That is, that the time has come to consider going back to the time-honored practice of nominating their candidates for statewide office by primary elections.
That practice was abandoned in 1977 after former Lt. Gov. Henry Howell’s upset victory over former Attorney General Andrew Miller in that year’s race for the gubernatorial nomination. Since then, the party has relied on the convention method of naming statewide candidates. It is one of only four states to do so.
The use of conventions, in theory at least, appeared to be a vast improvement over the primary system. It was said to be less divisive, less expensive, of little cost to the taxpayers, and it gave party leaders and activists an opportunity to do their thing when the delegates assembled for the big conclaves. ,
97.0%