ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VIENNA
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE AND DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITERS
MANY VIRGINIANS say they owe John Warner a debt of gratitude - and their vote - for helping defeat Oliver North two years ago.
When Oliver North walked the annual Halloween Parade two years ago, cheers and jeers rained on him like leaves falling from the trees in this Northern Virginia town.
The failed candidate was absent from this year's event Wednesday, but his polarizing image still stirred voters as they pondered Virginia's impending U.S. Senate election.
Many people planning to vote for President Clinton next month said they will cross party lines to reward Republican Sen. John Warner for his role in opposing North during his 1994 campaign for the U.S. Senate.
``The Ollie North thing clinched it for me,'' said Joe Alonso, a 35-year-old brickmason in this GOP-leaning town.
``That made him a hero, as far as I'm concerned. I think a lot of people feel that way,'' said Trianne Freese, a retired teacher who watched the parade along Maple Street, in front of her store.
John Warner, well ahead in most polls, walked with a grin and waved from the yellow line. His opponent, Democrat Mark Warner, zigzagged from curb to curb, shaking every hand within reach.
But what Mark Warner really needs to shake here in Northern Virginia, home to nearly one-third of the state's voters, is Ollie North.
The Democrat can't afford to lose in the populous Washington suburbs considering that John Warner, who built his career around the military, has broad support there as well as in Tidewater, the state's second largest metropolitan area.
Mark Warner acknowledges he must confront - and debunk - the North factor in the final 12 days of the campaign.
``We're getting killed in Northern Virginia,'' he said in an interview Monday. ``Losing Northern Virginia? When I've got all these issues on my side? The issue is Ollie North, at least that's my sense.
``My biggest challenge, I believe, is to get voters to not use their vote as simply a thank you. This election is too important."
Last weekend, Mark Warner's TV and radio ads began confronting his North problem.
``Senator Warner opposes a woman's right to choose, just like Oliver North,'' a female narrator says in one radio commercial. ``While I still appreciate what he said about North, I say we need a senator in Virginia who takes the right stands on some other things too.''
John Warner spokesman Eric Peterson said Mark Warner's fixation on North is misguided, because the Republican senator was Virginia's most popular politician long before North came along - and John Warner recruited an independent candidate to oppose him.
``A lot of Virginians want to thank the senator for any number of things,'' Peterson said. ``This is a diversion to the real issue, which is that Mark's campaign doesn't resonate with the voters.''
Parade-watchers who plan to vote for John Warner said the North episode was an important - but not necessarily deciding - factor in their decision.
``He does what's right for Virginia, not what the party or the other people tell him is right,'' said Mary Rankin, a homemaker from Vienna.
``He's strong for the military,'' said Larry Daniels, a 61-year-old defense industry worker.
Mona McClanaham, a 44-year-old teacher from Leesburg, recalled how the senator's staff responded to her father's complaint about a telephone company charging long distance rates for a local call.
``It was an incredibly minor thing, but his staff took care of it,'' she said.
The crowd, though, was not entirely lopsided for the white-haired Warner.
At the corner of Maple and Glyndon, between a Mobil station and the Outback Steakhouse, John Warner waited a full minute and a half for the parade to continue. He tossed off a few waves and smiles, but his eyes rarely strayed from the back of the truck in front of him.
By the time Mark Warner reached the intersection an hour later, his as-seen-on-TV visage had whipped the crowd of kids into a frenzy.
``I shook the hand of a TV guy,'' said Jennifer Ege, a wide-eyed 12-year-old.
``Hey, where's John Warner?'' shouted a man at the curb, apparently unaware that the senator had long since come and gone.
``I'm Mark Warner,'' the candidate responded, rushing over for a handshake. ``New and improved.''
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESSby CNB