Posted on 05/23/2003 12:06:25 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Not that he's offering any direct advice, but Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin says "a true friend" would coax Gov. Bob Wise into sitting out next year's election.
Otherwise, the Democratic governor cannot avoid intense scrutiny and constant reminders from rivals and the press alike over his confessed infidelity, Chafin suggested Tuesday.
Last week, Wise issued an apology to his family and the state's residents over an extramarital affair.
While he never identified the other woman, a Charleston newspaper reported a musician, Philip Frye, had named Wise in a divorce proceeding against his wife, Angela Mascia-Frye, who oversees European operations for the state Development Office.
"A true friend would tell you the truth and not sugar-coat it, wouldn't he?" Chafin, D-Mingo, said.
"If a true friend actually told him what lies ahead, he might consider that he's going to be in a hard battle."
Chafin said he figures not only will Democratic rivals use the affair against him in the primary, but if he survives that election, Republicans then will pick up on the same theme.
"I just think his road is going to be pretty rocky," Chafin said.
"I'm talking about peace of mind. If a person is more interested in quality of life, I'm not so sure he would want to go through that mine field."
Chafin likened the prospect of the affair playing a role in the campaign the way the Monica Lewinsky affair haunted former President Clinton.
"Do you want to go through that battle like Clinton did?" he asked.
"And at what price? You can see his hair is snow white now. Look at him when he started. I'm not saying he (Wise) can't run and win and get through that mine field, but at what price in terms of quality of life, sense of mind, well-being - things we loosely call happiness that we're all searching for."
In the latest unscientific poll by Metro News, Wise polled 14.5 percent, followed by Joe Manchin, 72.6 percent, and Treasurer John Perdue, 6.8 percent.
If Wise persists with his re-election effort, he is apt to be locked into "a heavyweight championship" bout, and while he could survive, "what will he look like after 15 rounds?" the majority leader asked.
"It might be a good time to say, 'Adios, I've enjoyed it, I'm going fishing,'" he said.
Nor was Chafin advocating Wise step aside now - an option his press aides have been adamant he doesn't intend to exercise.
On the other hand, Chafin said, "If he elects to step out, we have a very competent leader in the wings in the Senate."
"(President) Earl Ray Tomblin (D-Logan) would make an excellent governor for awhile," he said. "He could carry on quite awhile. But that's his (Wise's) personal decision.
"At some point in time, you have to make a personal decision. Those of us who have been in politics a long time would ask, 'Is the price of the ticket worth the ride on this train?' When you get into these personal matters that the press will never let go, that your opponents will never let go, then you drag your family and children in there. If I were him, I would seriously consider all those things before I form a re-election campaign."
Chafin called Tomblin his first choice to succeed Wise as a governor who would prove "really credible if given a chance to serve."
His second choice as "1-A" is Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard.
"He's a southerner, yet he appeals to the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, the business section," the majority leader said.
Despite the likelihood of a rough-and-tumble campaign, Wise probably will pull on the gloves for a 15-rounder, Chafin acknowledged.
"But at what price?" he asked. "When he looks back on this in a few years, like Clinton, he may ask, 'Why did I pay that kind of a price to ride on that train those few months?'"
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