Candidates Trip The Light Fantastic

Some sensible sentencing reform emerged from Allen's efforts to end parole, but the issue's utility for rousing the rabble was never overlooked -- especially when Allen made prison construction an essential corollary of parole abolition and dispatched Kilgore to deliver the message in no uncertain terms. The idea was to frame the issue for the 1995 legislative races.

So Kilgore appeared in Williamsburg to warn a local crowd that new prisons must be built, lest violent criminals, by necessity, be set loose in the streets of the commonwealth. Your life is at risk. Vote Republican. Simple.

Not quite. At that time nearly half of the state's prison inmates were in the clink for nonviolent offenses. What Kilgore was implying was that convicted murderers and rapists would be freed before drug users and burglars. As a political position, it was novel. Yet it went unobserved. Kilgore likely surmised, if he thought about it at all, that no one cared who was who in the prison system or what they did to get there.

But we have politics, and we have heroics. In the latter category is Bill Bolling, a state senator from Hanover County who is contending for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. In the world of political invention, Bolling stands out.

"Developing a transportation system for the 21st century is the most pressing issue facing Virginia's state government," he says on his Web site. "We must increase the amount of money that is available for highway construction projects."

Got it: More money, better roads, less congestion. Wrong.

"While additional funding for highway construction is needed, it is not necessary to increase taxes to secure this funding," Bolling says. Well, what a relief.

At different times, Bolling has favored elimination of the local property tax on cars; cutting taxes on food and income; increasing dependent deductions and indexing them to inflation; and a fixed requirement that all state budget surpluses be returned to taxpayers. Bolling also has supported smaller class sizes; better educational facilities; enhanced adult and juvenile literary programs; improved teacher pay; and tax credits for parents with children in non-public schools.

Still looking for hope? One candidate has yet to embarrass himself. He plays down the social stuff and seems to appreciate the costly and dysfunctional arrangement between Virginia state and local government. His name is Sean T. Connaughton, and he is chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

That's not an endorsement, just information. Hey, at least he hasn't jumped on the great mattress issue.

gcmorse@cox.net