Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE AND ROBERT LITTLE LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
Robb said a recent string of misstatements and controversial statements suggest North is wilting under the pressure of a hard-fought campaign.
"Maybe a good rest, and he'll get his act back together again,'' Robb said Tuesday morning on WTAR radio. ``But this does tend to point out the need for some degree of reliability when you're in a crisis situation."
But advisers to North said the candidate was hardly resting Tuesday on the heels of his reported claim Sunday that the U.S. military has been so weakened by defense cuts that it may be incapable of repelling a possible Iraqi assault on Kuwait. North backed off the statement Monday, but still called the U.S. military "hollow."
Spokesman Mark Merritt said North spent six hours on the telephone soliciting donations, greeted voters at a Fairfax County mall and attended a fund-raising dinner.
"It's the height of hypocrisy for Chuck Robb, who took six months off from the campaign, to say that," Merritt said. The spokesman was referring to Robb's limited campaign appearances this summer while the Senate was in session.
Merritt acknowledged, however, that fatigue may be an explanation for North's rocky performance in recent weeks. "He's just tired," Merritt said, noting that North has been campaigning 16 to 18 hours a day for almost a year.
"It's just purely a matter of volume," Merritt said. "When you campaign nonstop, you have the opportunity to make headway, and you have the opportunity to slip up. I don't know of a candidate who hasn't made a mistake."
In recent weeks, North has fueled debate about his character by issuing a series of controversial statements and then distancing himself from them. In addition to his comments on the military, North has shied away from statements he made in support of public display of the Confederate flag and suggesting that Robb's military service in the Marines was largely ceremonial.
In each case, North has accused the "liberal media" of either misquoting him or distorting the context of his comments.
But a source close to the campaign said North has been running into trouble when he strays from his central theme: Robb's support of Clinton's agenda.
The gaffes have presented Robb with an opening to question North's ability to tell the truth and get his facts right. Not all of the incidents have been reported by the media. For example:
Saturday, North told a Canadian TV reporter that he "first thought" of running for the Senate when he read Clinton's inaugural address in January 1993.
A year earlier, however, North was telling reporters that he was strongly considering a Senate bid. By the end of 1992, North was busy hiring campaign staff.
On Oct. 4, North told a GOP audience: "We've just seen something that Jimmy Carter couldn't have pulled off in the worst days of the hollow military - reserve forces being called to duty without being paid. It happened. It just happened last weekend."
In fact, the opposite had happened. The military, which in the past has run short of money at the end of the federal fiscal year, told reservists not to report for weekend duty in September because there was no money for pay. Reservists were told they could report for two weekends in October - for double pay.
Staff writers Dale Eisman and David M. Poole contributed to this story.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB