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 3 · column 1 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
By JOHN GOOLRICK
Rodger Provo, who signed on to Linwood Holton’s historic 1969 gubenatorial campaign, recalls that only two of the people associated with that campaign were professional types used to making their living off of politics.
Provo, who served in the Holton Administration after Virginians elected the first Republican governor of modem times, says he is put off by the great proliferation of spin doctors into the state’s political bloodstream since those days.
He notes that the folks waging a hot war in various battles for GOP nominations for statewide office this year are those who flit from candidate to candidate to keep gainfully employed.
“I’m not a purist,” said Provo, “and I recognize that the political scene in this state has changed dramtically. Even so, it turns me off that the candidates apper to be so tightly controlled by their professional handlers...the hired guns are in control.”
Indeed, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent this year in Virginia. From Democratic and Repubican candidates alike rain fees to consultants whose duties run the gamut from scheduling apperances to arranging radio and television commercials.
These same consultants help set much of the campaign agenda using sophisticated survey techniques to determine which issues or themes will play best with the voters. There is scarcely a politician in a contested election on a statewide or regional level who won’t contribute money in various amounts to spin doctors who specialize in manipulation of the electoral process.
Certainly, the political consultant has become the almost indispensable factor for those seeking election to public office in Virginia or anywhere else. And they become even more needed in an era when voter distrust of politicans keeps rising and the process grows more volatile all the time.
Mary Sue Terry, who has al
95.8%