<bt>For Dick Saslaw, the main difference between today's state Senate and the state Senate he first joined 23 years ago is "who runs the place," he said.
"The Democrats ran it when I got there, the Republicans run it now."
State Sen. Dick Saslaw (D-35th), the Senate minority leader who is running for another term, has carved out a place for himself in Richmond, achieving a measure of respect on both sides of the aisle, according to colleagues from both parties. He is favored to beat his opponent, independent Levi Levy.
"I enjoy it," said Saslaw, 63, who runs 20 miles a week. "And when I don't, I'll leave."
"He is blunt, witty, crafty and a pleasure to work with," said state Sen. Bill Mims (R-33rd).
Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd) called him "one of the true leaders of the Senate."
SASLAW HAS acquired a reputation for being outspoken, for airing his views and for working behind the scenes with Republicans and Democrats.
His role as minority leader has helped him make sure some legislation never reaches the governor's desk.
"There was a whole lot of conservative social legislation that I engineered a killing of when it got to the Senate last year," he said.
One bill would have required doctors to report minors who came to see them with sexually transmitted diseases.
"About 40 doctors testified they ain't going to tell the parents, they'll just keep spreading it."
Another bill would have allowed pharmacists to refuse to dispense prescriptions "that they didn't agree with philosophically," he said. A third would have removed mental health as a reason to get an abortion in Virginia.
With Republicans in charge, he said, "there's no longer an emphasis on public schools and higher education. It's on abortion and social issues."
It's this work out of the public eye that his colleagues bring up when talking about him.
"He does his best work behind the scenes, and he often works in a bipartisan fashion," said Mims.
Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-31st) called him "the best vote counter I know.
"He can tell you how a vote is going to go on a committee on the Senate floor or how it will go unless we're able to persuade one or two people to vote differently," she said.
The only bills where he stays mum are those having to do with gasoline taxes. The owner of two gas stations in Virginia and one in Maryland, Saslaw said an attorney general's opinion said he didn't have to recuse himself from those votes, but he wants to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
"I don't vote, and I don't try to influence other people's opinions," he said.
"HE SAYS it straight," said Jan Reeves, chairman of the Fairfax County's Democratic Committee. "People tend to give him straight talk back, and it saves us a lot of confusion."
"I don't know if I'm outspoken," Saslaw said. "I don't speak that much on the floor."
But he added, "There's no doubt ever where I stand on an issue."
Howell called him "the kind of person you'd want to have in a foxhole with you."
Last year, Howell had the opportunity to share a foxhole with Saslaw when they were the only two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote with the Republicans against reappointing a controversial judge. Saslaw and Howell provoked the ire of fellow Democrats when they voted against granting Newport News judge Verbina Askew another term because they said she had not been frank with the committee about allegations of sexual harassment.
"Passions were very high," said Howell.
"This is not something that should be made on the basis of politics," said Saslaw. "It's not the first time it's happened by any stretch of the imagination, and it won't be the last."
Saslaw added that to him, the controversy was "water under the dam."
AS HE MEETS with voters before the election, Saslaw is emphasizing the impact the state's budget deficit will have on higher education. Already, he said, a quarter of George Mason University's freshman class is from out of state, "and that number's going to be expected to grow."
As the state cuts back its higher-education funding, tuition will go up, and Virginia students are going to have to compete with out-of-state students willing to pay higher tuition.
"A guy came up to me," he said. "His daughter had 1,300 [on her SATs] and a 3.8 average at Annandale High School and didn't get into U.Va."
"There's a reason for that. The reason's kind of obvious."
The state's tax commission charged with restructuring the tax system is "not going to do anything," he said.
"There's not going to be any bill from them."
But for Saslaw there is a solution: "You raise taxes."
More cuts in government won't work. "There's no government left, much less waste in it," he said.