TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/062491/0624102.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 5.7 KB | 124 lines

                                                                                NATION, Page 23

POLITICAL SOAP OPERA

Virginia's Demolition Derby


In a row over a secret tape, Robb and Wilder cloud their own
futures and anger fellow Democrats

By LAURENCE I. BARRETT/WASHINGTON -- With reporting by Don
Winbush/Richmond


    Why on earth were Virginia's two premier Democrats
squaring off like rival schoolyard bullies? For one thing,
Senator Charles Robb and Governor Douglas Wilder had resumed
their battle for primacy in the political playground. But in
creating what Robb called a "demolition derby," they also
damaged their own futures and hurt their party on the eve of
state legislative elections. And as leaders with reputations
beyond Virginia, they embarrassed their already demoralized
national party.

    The latest feud between Robb and Wilder had its origin in
a secret tape -- ostensibly sent to Robb by an anonymous donor
-- of an intercepted cellular-phone conversation between Wilder
and an ally. When Wilder denounced the eavesdropping caper, a
transcript of the tape appeared in two newspapers. Robb
responded by suspending three aides, pledging an investigation
of his office and pleading for peace talks with Wilder.

    Doubtless one reason for Robb's consternation is that some
of his advisers had considered the tape a potential weapon
against Wilder. Instead it became a boomerang. The conversation
was intercepted in October 1988, while Wilder was still
lieutenant governor and Robb was running for the Senate. Though
allied in most campaigns, the two had also skirmished for years.
In the taped conversation, Wilder pronounced Robb "finished"
because of reports of his presence at cocaine parties in
Virginia Beach. Talking about his own 1989 race for Governor,
Wilder said, "I don't want his endorsement, don't need his
endorsement."

    Wrong on both counts. Robb won easily, and Wilder, ever
flexible, used the new Senator's warm words of support in a
campaign commercial. Meanwhile, the unsolicited tape showed up
at Robb's office. Both federal and Virginia statutes prohibit
covert intercepts as well as dissemination of their contents.
Robb said he viewed the tape as "political gossip" rather than
a legal land mine. In any event, he said, he had ordered the
contents kept secret.

    But in April a new flash point arose between Robb and
Wilder. As NBC prepared a flimsy documentary on Robb's private
behavior, including an alleged dalliance with a former Miss
Virginia beauty queen, the Robb camp accused Wilder's crew of
complicity in the muckraking. The apparent strategy was to paint
the expose as resulting from a political vendetta. According to
two sources familiar with the episode, two Robb associates --
his press secretary, Steven Johnson, and the political director
of Robb's Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Robert
Watson -- briefed a Washington Post reporter on the tape's
contents about two months ago. But the ground rules prohibited
the paper's direct use of the information at that time.

    What happened next is still unclear, but Robb's people
became uneasy about having the tape and destroyed it. A
transcript survived, however, as did at least one other copy of
the tape made by the original eavesdropper. The Richmond gossip
circuit became aware of the material, causing Wilder, while on
a trip to Europe, to break the story in a phone interview with
the Post. It was a shrewd ploy by the Governor, moving
attention from the content of the tape to Robb's possession of
it and portraying Wilder as the "victim" of a crime.

    Johnson considered resigning over the incident but was
persuaded instead to accept a suspension with pay. Watson and
Robb's chief of staff, David McCloud, also went on paid leave.
Meanwhile, Robb searched for a lawyer to probe the affair.

    If Robb thought his do-it-yourself investigation would
deflect heat, he was mistaken. State attorney general Mary Sue
Terry, though a Robb ally, asked both the FBI and the Virginia
state police to enter the case. Richmond Republicans quickly
joined the fray. G.O.P. staffer Steve Haner announced that in
1989 Watson had used the threat of another taped phone
conversation to make him admit that fellow Republicans were
paying for a private detective to check out Robb's R. and R. at
Virginia Beach. Then the state Republican Party asked for an
expanded inquiry into suspected political espionage by Democrats
during the 1985 gubernatorial election.

    While the battle still had several rounds to go, Wilder
was beating Robb on points. Once considered a possible
presidential candidate and unbeatable for re-election to the
Senate, Robb must now worry about survival in Virginia. "He's
sinking faster than Saddam Hussein's navy," says political
scientist Robert Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University.

    A few of Wilder's handlers imagine that Robb might be
pushed aside, creating a Senate vacancy the Governor could fill
when he leaves the statehouse. Of course they only view that as
a contingency plan in case Wilder's flirtation with
presidential politics fizzles. But while the Governor's tactical
skill was on display as he kept Robb on the defensive, so was
his grating rough edge. And so was the rancor that was manifest
in the taped conversation, which hardly spoke well of his party
loyalty.

    Wilder initially deflected pleas from other Democrats for
a truce, saying that Robb was doing all the feuding, but
finally offered to meet with Robb this week. The two have had
peace parleys before, resulting only in temporary truces. In the
current tense climate, a tape recording of their conversation
would make fascinating listening.