THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 1, 1994 TAG: 9406010716
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KENT JENKINS JR., WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: 940601 LENGTH: WASHINGTON
Virginia's senior senator said he has been encouraging Coleman, a former state attorney general, to mount an independent campaign because he finds North unfit to hold public office.
{REST} And although Warner has made no final decision, he said he will not allow the conservatives who support North to prevent him from running again in two years.
``I will find a way of getting my name in front of the voters of Virginia,'' he said. ``I hope to do it through the party structure. But a small, tiny group is not going to stop me.''
Warner, the highest-ranking elected Republican in Virginia, will not attend the party convention in Richmond this weekend; he will be 4,000 miles away on the beaches of Normandy, participating in ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day. He said one Republican activist recently joked to him: ``You're going where the shooting has stopped.''
Warner's blunt remarks are the clearest sign yet that the ideological schism caused by North's candidacy likely will widen in coming months. The prospect of a Warner defection in two years could shatter the party unity fostered by Republican Gov. George Allen's unexpected victory last fall and throw Republicans into an internecine war.
There also is evidence that Warner commands a much stronger political position than the hail of criticism directed at him in recent weeks would suggest.
Although GOP conservatives are furious with him for disparaging North, senior Republicans and Democrats say Warner's popularity with the general public has soared because of his stand. According to political strategists, numerous private polls show that most voters consider his statements gutsy. Warner's current approval ratings are the highest of any elected official in Virginia.
The three-term incumbent certainly doesn't sound worried. In remarks sure to rile North supporters, Warner said a North victory could turn this weekend's meeting into a repeat of the party's 1992 national convention, with its stridently conservative tone.
``I'm deeply concerned,'' Warner said. ``I hope this convention will not be compared to that which nominated George Bush in Houston. Historians point to the Houston convention as the beginning of the road to his loss.''
Political analysts said that even though Coleman has lost two statewide races since he was elected attorney general in 1977, an energetic effort by Warner could help make him a serious contender.
``John Warner has the ability to transfer some of his popularity to a centrist Republican candidate like Marshall Coleman,'' said Mark J. Rozell, a political scientist at Mary Washington College. ``There are a good many Republicans who are disgruntled with Oliver North. . . . North has a strong base, but his major problem is broadening that base. He needs the support of moderates, and Marshall Coleman would cut into that.''
The potential for a donnybrook began building four months ago, when Warner became the first senior GOP official to publicly criticize North. On the day North formally declared his candidacy, Warner gave a round of scathing interviews in which he questioned North's fitness for the job.
``What is the sign the Virginia Republican Party sends,'' Warner asked, ``when the only person it can find is someone with (North's) record?''
Several weeks later, when former president Ronald Reagan released a letter criticizing North, Warner played a key role in disseminating it. Finally, Warner said he could not actively support North under any circumstances.
{KEYWORDS} REPUBLICAN PARTY U.S. SENATE RACE\ by CNB