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Subject: Byrne Rides Skirttails of Change; N.Va.'s New Congresswoman Represents a
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 05:01:45 EST
Message-ID: <74.1992Nov5.050145@AmeriCast.com>

Byrne Rides Skirttails of Change; N.Va.'s New Congresswoman
Represents a Difference, Pollster Says<By Peter Baker=Washington
Post Staff Writer= Leslie L. Byrne rarely mentioned her sex in
her tough campaign to become the first woman elected to Congress
from Virginia, but she skillfully turned the issue to her advan-
tage, campaign strategists said yesterday.

Though the Democrat's take-no-prisoners battle with Republican
Henry N. Butler in the new 11th District focused largely on per-
sonal attacks and philosophical differences, Byrne capitalized on
voters' belief that a woman was more likely to make needed
changes in Congress, they said.

Alan Secrest, Byrne's pollster, said his surveys showed that a
majority of 11th District voters agreed with that premise.

"As a woman, she's seen as the embodiment of change, even if she
has a record in the legislature," he said.

Several voters emerging from the polls - both women and men -
said they voted for the seven-year state delegate in part because
they believe women are more likely to shake up Capitol Hill,
which is populated mostly by white men.

"It's important to get more women in Congress," said Doris Gar-
vin, 44, a federal government worker from Burke. "I don't think
these white male lawyers are very well attuned to issues that are
important to women."

Edward Erskine, 36, a cabdriver from Annandale, agreed. "This
year's supposed to be the year of the women, so I decided to give
her a chance," he said.

Byrne did not explicitly make sex an issue, rarely mentioning the
historic nature of her candidacy except in speeches to women's
groups. But her campaign made its point in more subtle ways.

While most candidates simply list their names on roadside signs,
Byrne featured pictures of her smiling face. In her first TV
spot, she introduced herself by saying she was "not running for
Congress to be one of the boys" and closed with the slogan,
"Leslie Byrne, because it's time." And T-shirts showed up in the
final days emblazoned, "Making history, making sense."

"She handled it about right," said Tom Julia, a consultant to
Butler. "Trying to do any more with it could have been like,
'Elect me because I'm a woman,' and I don't think that would have
worked."

Byrne's  status as a potential history-maker also helped in
fund-raising.

Byrne raised almost $800,000, with about $80,000 of it collected
on her behalf by the Emily's List women's political network. She
had $228,500 in the bank entering the crucial final three weeks
of the campaign, more than any other candidate for an open
congressional seat in the nation.

But being a woman was not as helpful to Byrne as her staff
thought it might be. Her campaign manager, Margaret K.  Luca,
said that Northern Virginia is "so educated and we've had women
mayors and (county board) chairs, it wasn't quite what it was
around the country." In addition, Byrne and her advisers debated
how tough she should be in campaigning against Butler, with some
aides suggesting she tone down her forceful style to avoid
alienating voters.

"What comes across in men as differently," Byrne said. "There was
the constant tension between getting the facts out and going
toe-to-toe with him, and not wanting to be perceived as pushy
(or) brassy."

In the end, her advisers relented. "Leslie said, 'Let Leslie be
Leslie,' and we all backed off," said her press secretary, Julia
Lyman.

The result was a campaign routinely described as among the nasti-
est in the area, especially a devastating last-minute TV ad at-
tacking Butler's character that some say was a turning point for
Byrne in what had been a close race.

Byrne will be a member of an unusually large class of women
newcomers.  The difference constituents can expect from a woman
representative, she said, will come not in the issues she focuses
on but rather in the perspective she brings to them.

"In the state legislature, I never was a women's issues-type of
legislator because I really felt that all issues were important
to women," she said. "But it's the way you look at issues and how
it affects people's real lives that I think is the real differ-
ence."02:58 11-05C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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