On 1st Day, Triumph, Tribulation
Hager Apologizes For a 'Sick Joke'
 Lt. Gov. John Hager opens his first session presiding over the Virginia Senate. (By Steve Helber/AP) |
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 20, 1998; Page B01
RICHMOND, Jan. 19—Swinging down his gavel at the stroke of noon, Lt. Gov. John H. Hager (R) today became the first lieutenant governor to preside over the Virginia Senate from a wheelchair, vowing to make his disability "disappear" through the faithful execution of his office.
Hager, a former Richmond tobacco executive holding his first elective post, did not quite manage a flawless start. After accepting bipartisan accolades from 40 senators, the former state GOP treasurer descended from the presiding officer's dais to greet reporters.
"Want to see me fly down the ramp?" a smiling Hager, 61, joked self-consciously on the 30-foot incline. "I don't want to be a Michael Kennedy," he added, pointing ahead to the Senate Chamber's south wall and referring to Robert F. Kennedy's son, who died in a New Year's Eve skiing accident.
"It sounded like a sick joke," Hager acknowledged later. "I regret saying it."
The bumpy opening day caught the triumph and the challenge facing Virginia's 34th elected lieutenant governor.
Hager's come-from-behind victory, part of a historic GOP sweep of three top statewide offices last November, catapulted him into a post that traditionally serves as a launching pad for gubernatorial aspirants. His presence also gives Republicans a tie-breaking vote for the first time in more than a century, at least until Tuesday's special election in Loudoun County, in which the GOP nominee is favored.
But Hager also suffers from political liabilities, such as his lifelong work for cigarette-maker American Tobacco Inc. and a penchant for colorful and sometimes insensitive remarks.
Last spring, asked how suburban Northern Virginians would accept the candidacy of a tobacco executive, Hager quipped that he expected they would get "puckered up," then added, "I bet they do eat that red meat, though, and drink that red wine!"
When anti-smoking lawyers uncovered a 1972 memo by Hager discussing nicotine manipulation, the candidate replied through a spokesman that he "felt like he'd been raped." He has also said he believes nicotine is not addictive.
Virginia GOP executive director Chris LaCivita called Hager's comment today "a bad choice of words." Senate Republican floor leader Walter A. Stosch (Henrico) said he didn't hear the remark and declined to comment.
Several Democrats also demurred, with one privately calling it "a slip of the lip."
In session, Hager basked in the history-setting precedent of being the tie-breaking GOP vote and thanked the welcoming senators while his wife, Maggie, his son, Jack, and five other relatives looked down from the gallery.
"We stand on the shoulders of giants and we have a high legacy to fulfill," Hager said.
Hager, noting that several organizations of state lawmakers and officeholders believe he is the first elected lieutenant governor in the country to use a wheelchair, said he hoped that would not obscure his work.
"It's my goal to make that disappear and do everything each and every day as you do," he said.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
