THE WASHINGTON POST, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2 ,	19	8	2
In the madly scrambled world of Virginia politics, three days is long enough for roughly three new candidacies, two withdrawals, one threat of a bolt and the birth of a. <iuas.i-draft movement. But ready or not this Saturday in Roanoke, the stateÛªs Democrats are supposed to pick somebody to run fori the U.S. SenateÛÓor for cover, depending ton how smoothly Gov. Charles Robb can glue together enough left, right and moderate wings to call them a consensus.</br></br>That's what the governor thought he had weeks ago, when he tapped Owen Pickett as his favorite. But neither the candidate nor the way Robb handled the anointing was acceptable to party members. Some felt snubbed, some were disappointed in the choice, and others, including L. Douglas Wilder, the stateÛªs leading black politician, felt the party was giving blacks short shrift on too many matters of importance to them.</br></br>Exit Pickett. Return Wilder. Scattered applause for RobbÛªs helping it to happen, and a mini-rash of euphoria at the revived prospect of the DemocratsÛª following their clean sweep of the top three statewide offices and continued domination of the legislature with the capture of a Senate seat controlled by father and son Byrds for half a century.</br></br>ÛÏRobb, having been burned once for heavy-handedness, went shy. ... So did the big-money fund-raisers. 99 seizing an opportunity to rally the party around a rank-and-file favoriteÛÓhis own lieutenant governor, Richard J. DavisÛÓor another man with statewide . appealÛÓ Senate Majority Leader Hunter B. AndrewsÛÓRobb backed off. So did the big-money fund-raisers. And so did Davis and Andrews. Even the one candidate with some money of his own, Del. Norman Sisi-sky, a wealthy beer and soda distributor, decided against the Senate race.</br></br>Grinning all this while, of course, was the RepublicanÛªs likely nominee, Rep. Paul S. Trible, who must have wondered whether heÛªd ever have to lift a finger to win the whole thing.