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By JOHN GOOLRICK
Gov. L. Douglas Wilder says he Wfill run for U.S. Senate next year as a Democrat and not an independent.
While there is still a chance he may change his mind about that, perhaps the governor may also want to consider seeking the Republican domination for Senate.
Yes, I am acutely aware that Mr. Wilder has been a lifelong Democrat and that he got elected to the state Senate, lieutenant governor and governor as a Democrat.
But in recent times, while preparing for his run against archenemy U.S. Senator Charles S. Robb next year, Mr. Wilder has funded much more like a Republican than a Democrat. , He has been, for example, a highly vocal critic of President Bill Clinton, a fellow Democrat, who has already endorsed Robb for re-election.
Indeed, Wilder has blasted Clintpn’s proposed budget as one that unnecessarily raises taxes and will cause economic havoc. He has sharply criticized Robb for supporting the Clinton plan and has alleged t]hat Robb is not acting in accord with Virginia’s tradition of fiscal integrity.
' Since whoever gets the GOP nomination for Senate in 1994 will likely sound such themes, if Wilder were the Republican nominee they would sound all the more convincing coming from someone who formerly shared the same party as Robb.
Of course, Wilder is not about to become a Republican even if he does talk like one with increasing frequency. But his potshots at Robb and his lukewarm (at best) support for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mary Sue Terry point to a developing fracture within the Virginia Democratic Party that will probably get worse as time goes on.
The Wilder-Robb confrontation, providing Wilder remains a Democrat, will cause tremors that may register on the Richter scale. Whether the party decides to choose its nominee at a convention or by primary, the battle is going to be an ugly one because Wilder makes it clear he intends to go for the jugular.
That means Robb can expect attacks not only on his political connections to the Clinton Administration, but on his past lifestyle and the famous bugging incident that resulted in the eventual resignation of three of his top staff aides and scrutiny of his own role by a federal grand jury.
Though Wilder is unlikely to seek nomination as a Republican, the GOP will still have a hotly-contested race for the nomination.
Iran-Contra figure Ollie North is the clear frontrunner at the moment and has been drawing big crowds wherever he goes in the state. But there remains a sizeable group within the party who think North’s candidacy is inappropriate, and
92.8%