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How
the Mighty Have Fallen
Vance
Wilkins crashes to the ground. His successor,
William Howell, should change the tone of the
General Assembly.
The
Wye Oak in Maryland
and the
Speaker of the House in Virginia
slammed
to earth on the same day in June. One was almost
500 years old, but fell victim to high winds and
heartwood rot. The other served as Speaker only
about 500 days, but twisted down slowly in a storm
of his own making, revealing surprisingly shallow
roots.
Reports
from Talbot
County, Md.,
suggested that thousands of people visited the
Wye Oak as it lay prone in the middle of its own
state park on the Eastern
Shore. The nation's largest white oak had stood
96 feet tall, stretched 31 feet, 10 inches in
girth, and weighed 200 tons. State workers quickly
set about removing debris and sawing large branches
from a treasure that had started growing about
the time Europeans began settling America.
The
fall for Del. S. Vance Wilkins Jr., R-Amherst,
took almost a week: slow by the standards of a
meteorological storm front but quick for a political
tempest. All the veteran lawmaker's work to build
a House Republican majority and all his power
to make or break House members through committee
appointments and House rules couldn't save him.
The
Wye Oak will not only be remembered, it already
has been replicated. Horticulturalists cracked
the genetic code on the herbacious wonder three
years ago and even planted one of its many clones
at Mount Vernon earlier
this year. The clones may grow just as big as
the original, but we'll have to wait a few hundred
years to see. Meanwhile, Maryland
is weighing which of its other largest, most impressive
specimens -- a poplar or sycamore, perhaps --
will take over as the state's champion tree.
Here
in Virginia, House Republicans sat down July 20 to nominate
a new Speaker candidate for approval by the full
House. The consensus selection was Del.
William J. Howell, R-Fredericksburg, who has represented
Fredericksburg
and
Stafford
County
since
1988. Private comments, not just public ones from
Howell's colleagues, suggest he is no Vance Wilkins
clone. To the contrary, Howell's compatriots describe
him as open, approachable, inclusive, substantive,
pragmatic and efficient -- characteristics that
served him well in his rise to chair of the House
Courts of Justice Committee and as a ranking member
on the House Finance Committee.
A
Howell speakership, both Republicans and Democrats
suggest, provides an opportunity to bridge gaps
between regional and political factions and to
restore respect and civility between delegates
and senators, who have continued to feud in the
wake of the 2001 budget impasse. Open decisions,
openly arrived at, on what ultimately is the people's
business would reverse a decade of "no retreat,
no surrender" insider politics.
Beginning
July 20, Bill Howell has the opportunity to help
set a new political and policy agenda for Virginia:
propelling the Commonwealth forward in workforce
development, education, infrastructure investment
and entrepreneurial climate. The indications are
favorable. Howell understands that networks, not
hierarchies, and a pragmatic policy focus rather
than an emphasis on electoral politics, promise
to work best.
Howell
also draws from a reservoir of current good feelings
from House Republicans and Democrats, from state
senators and from Gov. Mark R. Warner. But he
will never be as popular with his colleagues as
he was when the Republican Caucus selected
him as Speaker-designate, or as he will be in
January 2003, when the full House confirms his
leadership. So we may have to wait a few hundred
days to see just how deeply Howell's personal
positives take root in a Virginia
government
facing serious revenue problems, complex policy
and divisive political challenges.
Virginia
will
be the winner if the adage holds true, that mighty
oaks from tiny acorns grow.
--
July 22, 2002
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