good humor by both father and son. “It’s a

good humor by both father and son. “It’s a little too early to answer that,” was the stock reply, “but we may have something to say about it later on.”

This familiar scenario was played out again earlier this month when Vice President George Bush came to Richmond to participate in a star-studded fund-raising luncheon for Durrette.

Attending the event, along with some 300 party faithful, were former Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr., Sen. John W. Warner, Sen. Paul S. Trible, 7th District Congressman D. French Slaughter Jr. and Byrd.

Reporters asked the former senator if his presence meant he was endorsing Durrette’s candidacy.

The affable Byrd gave a typically affable Byrd reply. “At some later day we may have something to say,” he replied cheerily.

Now this, dear reader, is so much Byrd seed.

Of course Byrd will endorse Durrette. At least he will unless the GOP candidates commits some kind of horrendous faux pas or suffers a recurrence of the political moderation which marked his service as a member of the House of Delegates a decade ago.

The question now is one of timing, and that could be determined by whether or not President Reagan’s health permits him to come to Virginia for a campaign appearance in Durrett’e behalf. In any event, GOP strategists will be checking their tea leaves in search of the optimum time to formally “play the Byrd card.”

With Byrd, Godwin and many other members of the so-called “Old Guard” out of office and advancing in years, the question naturally arises as to how much political clout they still wield in the politics of the 1980s.

At least for this year in conservative Virginia, the view here is that they still wield a great deal, especially among older voters. But it is also probable that their influence in declining and that 1985, or perhaps 1989, will be their last hurrah in gubernatorial politics.