As the 2000 elections campaigns are heating up, former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder (D) provided living proof yesterday that elections are won by focusing on the people and not the polls.
Although the former Virginia governor is celebrated as the first and only black governor in the United States, he said he reminds candidates they will not get elected for trying to make history.
Wilder spoke before a crowded GFAP 101 class, taught by Larry J. Sabato, government and foreign affairs professor."I came to understand Virginia. I came to understand its people," Wilder said, describing his campaign for lieutenant governor in 1984.
With a small budget and a campaign staff of three, he traveled to every city and county in Virginia and stayed in the homes of citizens, not in hotels.
Wilder said he learned not to judge people by initial appearances. Despite superficial differences, he said he found that people want similar things from government.
Wilder also said he experienced no racism on the campaign trail. "It convinced me that many people hadn't voted for African Americans because they didn't have the chance to," the former governor said.
Wilder said he anticipates a black president in the future, although he said minorities still must work extra hard to prove themselves in positions of leadership.
Wilder served a four-year term as lieutenant governor, beginning in 1985, and became governor in 1989.
He listed as his most significant accomplishments the passage of an important gun control measure and the stability of tax rates and simultaneous No. 1 ranking as the best fiscally managed state.
The former governor said national candidates have "gotten away from the people," largely because of a growing emphasis and reliance on campaign funds.
Devoting part of his speech to the 2000 presidential election, Wilder criticized Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) for not addressing derogatory comments made at South Carolina's Bob Jones University and Democrat Al Gore for his ever-changing stance on Elián Gonzalez and failure to back the President on the issue.
Wilder's speech did not endorse either presidential hopeful. But in an interview with The Cavalier Daily he said he plans to back a candidate after further consideration. Wilder also said he thought the Virginia Senate race is close enough to be won by either Democratic incumbent Chuck Robb or former Republican Gov. George Allen. "The guy who really wants to bad enough" will win, he said.
The former Democratic governor said he does not support candidates based on party lines. But still he expressed concern for the Republican Party's hold on Virginia. "The Democratic Party has fallen on hard times in Virginia," Wilder said.
Sabato said he invited Wilder to speak to his class after the positive reactions to the former governor in past years and because of Wilder's notable contributions to the state.
"It was interesting how he spoke about sticking to yourself," first-year College student Peter McDowell said. "I can see why he was a good governor by hearing him speak."
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