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He's Trying to Give His Party a Reason to Throw One

(Daily Press (Hampton Roads))
By Hugh Lessig
Daily Press Editorial
 
It was a cold day in November 1964 when Dickie Cranwell slammed a 48-yard field goal through the uprights for Virginia Tech.
 
At the time, it was the longest field goal in school history.
 
The game was played outdoors in Syracuse , N.Y. There was snow on the ground, and Tech ended up losing to a very good Syracuse team.
 
Today, Richard Cranwell still has his eyes on November, but the landscape - and the potential outcome - appears a bit brighter.
 
As chairman of the state Democratic Party, Richard Cranwell has high hopes for the 2007 General Assembly elections. All 140 seats are on the ballot and even though many will be uncontested, Republicans are working hard to defend their majorities in the Senate and House of Delegates.
 
Democrats are hoping to regain control of the Senate and pick up seats on the House. Cranwell served in the House of Delegates for 30 years, developing a reputation as a sharp legislative tactician and floor debater. Now, he is turning those skills toward steering the party into November and beyond.
 
Q: Every year, pundits and media types seem to say that the upcoming election is crucial or pivotal. But in this case, with a number of contested races and control of the General Assembly at stake, it seems like you can legitimately make that claim for the 2007 campaign, can't you? This is a big one.
 
A: I don't think there's any question that there's a real possibility of a significant shift in the makeup of the two legislative bodies in Virginia .
 
Q: Democrats are down four seats in the Senate and 11 seats in the House. How will you define success for the party in November?
 
A: I define success as taking the House and the Senate. In all candor, I believe that the likely scenario is that we'll take control of the Senate. I think the House is a more difficult task, but based on the numbers I've seen, I don't think it is completely out of the realm of possibility that we could get to 50-50 in the House. All the stars and all the planets are going to have to line up. You have so many local factors that influence the outcome; it's hard to take a big, broad-brush look at it.
 
Q: What does it mean to the average person if Democrats regain control of the legislature?
 
A: All I ask you to do is look at the civics part of the General Assembly as long as the Democrats were in control. The best example I give people is this. Hunter Andrews (the late Democratic senator from Hampton who was a longtime Senate Majority Leader) and Dick Cranwell used to have some very significant disagreements in the last two weeks of the legislative session. We understood that was the political, theatrical side of what the job was. We also understood there was a civics side, actual governing. So we knew we had to make a compromise in order to govern.
 
The group that is in charge, particularly in the House of Delegates right now, they do not understand the civics side of the equation. They think that politics is civics and it's not. Politics is the process by which we elect people.
 
Q: You were in the House for 30 years, starting in 1971. In your view, when did the atmosphere start to change?
 
A: It started changing in the '90s, and it has become far more partisan, far more vitriolic, far more divisive than it was prior to that point in time.
 
Q: Democrats controlled the General Assembly for decades. When the Republicans finally took over, it was the first GOP control since the era of Reconstruction. How did the Democrats lose their majority?
 
A: The Democrats lost their majority simply because of the Republican strategy that worked throughout the South. What happened in Virginia is not unique. You can look out across the entire tier of Southern states and see that the Nixon Southern strategy has played out very well. (The strategy involved using race as a wedge issue and Republicans attracting more whites.) I don't like it. I don't like the basis for it, but it's been successful.
 
What happened in Virginia was a snapshot in a bigger motion picture of what's going on. A lot of what's going on in 2007 elections in Virginia is a snapshot of a larger picture that's going on.
 
Q: Do you miss the General Assembly?
 
A: That's the most frequent question I am asked. Let me tell you what I miss. I miss my friends. It was a great fraternity to be a member of. The camaraderie and friendship was wonderful. I don't miss the divisive debate that was occurring toward the end of my tenure.
 
Q: What is the biggest difference between the adrenaline rush of the General Assembly and chairing the Democratic Party?
 
A: My task in the General Assembly was to try and move the ball forward for the citizenry of Virginia . You can go back and look at my record and make a judgment on whether I moved the ball forward.
 
Now, my job is to try and make the Democratic Party kind of a full-service, one-stop shop for candidates. I think you'll find we have more candidates running for local office this year than we've ever had.
 
We're trying to put together a group of elected officials who can be a reservoir for these people. We have reorganized from stem to stern.
 
We've already done a quarter of a million voter contacts. Hopefully, the Democratic Party will be a resource place where Democrats who want to run for office can come and a place where there is a fairly sophisticated field operation that can be replicated campaign after campaign and somebody doesn't have to reinvent the wheel.
 
Q: Haven't the Republicans done that better - the organizing and grassroots part?
 
A: Absolutely, absolutely. But there was a time when one of the baseball leagues played better than the other one, and the other one caught up.
 
Now the American League is playing better than the National League. We're catching up. We elected a governor. We elected a United States senator. We're going to take control of the Senate and the margin is going to be extremely close in the House.
 
Q: You have endorsed Democrat John Edwards for president. What makes him the right person to win in Virginia in 2008?
 
A: He's electable. I think one of the things that has always united Democrats is economic justice. I really think he's talking about that.
 
I think electability in the general election is a big issue, at least for Democrats like me. I believe we have to change the direction of this country, not just for Americans but for the rest of the world. We were there to help when people needed us, and we really weren't looking for anything in return.
 
One of the best signals to get us there would be to elect a Democrat.
 
Q: Do you have any plans to run for public office again?
 
A: (Laughs.) I am happy to be here, in this job, at a time when Virginia is in play. Hopefully we've made some progress with that.