Oops! He didn't mean to disrespect Old Dominion

GOP, sister jab man for comment

A Roanoke delegate to the Democratic convention says his remarks about why he was going to Los Angeles were miscontrued.

By CHRISTINA NUCKOLS
The Roanoke Times
Aug. 20, 2000

RICHMOND - Roanoker Craig Fifer had barely gotten his bearings at his first Democratic National Convention before he was being razzed by Republicans back in Virginia.

Fifer, the 22-year-old Web master for the city of Roanoke, was a delegate to the national convention in Los Angeles, which nominated Vice President Al Gore as the party's presidential nominee last week.

He was one of 13 Virginia Young Democrats chosen to attend the convention, making the state delegation the fourth youngest at the event. One reason for its youth was that some of the Virginia regulars opted not to go to Los Angeles because of the distance and expense involved. That opened up slots for younger party members.

"The convention is about as far away from Virginia as you can get," Fifer explained to The Roanoke Times. "I am thankful for that because that is the reason I am going."

In other words, Fifer was saying that he got to go to the convention because some senior party members didn't want to make the expensive cross-country trip.

When Ed Matricardi, executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia, read Fifer's comment, he concluded the Roanoker was dissing the Old Dominion. Matricardi fired off a news release to
political reporters across the state.

"With Virginia Democrats' dismal electoral record in recent campaigns, I can understand why Virginia Democrats want to get as far away from Virginia as possible," Matricardi stated in the release.

Matricardi conceded that he may have misinterpreted Fifer's comment, but said the news release wasn't intended to be mean-spirited.

"It was just a little good-natured ribbing," he said.

Fifer might have been justified in concluding that he was the victim of partisan politics, but then his sister called to chide him after she misread the comment herself. He's chalking up the experience as an early lesson in damage control.

"The way this has been misconstrued by people could not be further from the truth," he said. "I am the biggest promoter of Roanoke you'll ever meet."