THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 10, 1994 TAG: 9411100634
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS AND ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
Less than a day after Republican Oliver L. North's defeat, seething loyalists on Wednesday were plotting the downfall of the state's senior GOP official - U.S. Sen. John W. Warner.
Long the most popular politician in the state, Warner defied party leaders by opposing North's U.S. Senate candidacy, imperiling his own re-election bid in 1996.
Warner, unchallenged in 1990, is suddenly confronted with a list of potential rivals in his own party: Michael P. Farris, defeated for lieutenant governor in 1993 after Warner failed to support him; James C. Miller III, who lost the Senate nomination to North in a GOP convention last June; and North himself.
``John Warner singularly is the problem,'' said Farris Wednesday as he emerged from a private meeting with Republican state Attorney General James S. Gilmore III.
``I'm not engaging in any dialogues with Mike Farris,'' Warner replied in a telephone interview. ``It's appropriate to give campaign-weary Virginia a rest, particularly the losers. Let them be with their families and collect their lives.''
In that attitude, the senator added, ``lies the first clear difference between John Warner and Mike Farris.''
Farris said he has not yet decided whether he will challenge Warner in 1996. But he said he's ``very interested in the job,'' and sported a bumper sticker on his Ford Explorer that read: ``Is It 1996 Yet?''
``There is no credible data that it was Ollie's views on substantive issues that did him in,'' Farris said in defending the conservative Republican platform. ``Something different happened in Virginia. What happened was we had Iran-Contra. We also had John Warner.''
From across the state, prominent conservatives reported a groundswell of anti-Warner sentiment, and predicted that North supporters would move quickly to challenge a law allowing incumbent senators to choose between a primary or a convention when they run for re-election.
Either way is fine with one GOP official: ``I want to beat his ass in public,'' said Jim Ferreira, a regional vice chairman from Abingdon.
``I'm not hearing any good things about Mr. Warner from any Republicans today,'' said Del. J. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake. ``Disdain would be the best way I could phrase it.''
Fairfax GOP Chairman Pat Mullins said Warner was booed when he tried to speak Tuesday night at a victory party for Tom Davis, the 11th District congressional winner. ``I think he got the message,'' Mullins said.
But Warner appeared unfazed by the attacks. ``I welcome all challengers,'' he declared.
One could come from Miller, a former Reagan administration official, who said, ``I'm not ruling out '96'' and criticized Warner for abandoning Republicans this year. ``I think John Warner should have abided by the party,'' Miller said. ``I'm saddened he wouldn't support the party.''
Miller himself, during the nomination contest, questioned North's fitness for office, but ended up endorsing him.
Warner intends to be the GOP standardbearer in 1996, running in a primary, banking on polls that place him among the state's most popular politicians.
``I accept my share of the accountability for what I did'' in backing independent Senate candidate J. Marshall Coleman, Warner said. ``We provoked Virginians to think ever so carefully about their choice.''
Warner said his critics are forgetting that Coleman's campaign may have hurt Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb more than North. Polls leading up to the election consistently showed Robb as the second choice of Coleman backers, by two-to-one over North.
While he was never asked directly by the North campaign to keep Coleman in the race, there were ``quiet signals'' from prominent Republicans that North would benefit if the independent stayed in, Warner said.
Some Warner admirers said the party should look elsewhere for scapegoats.
``All across the nation, the Republican Party is triumphing. But right here in the great commonwealth, we're losing,'' said 10th District GOP Chairman James Rich. ``With a performance like that, we ought to get some new leadership.''
Rich, who led an unsuccessful attempt to oust state party Chairman Patrick McSweeney last year, said he expects cries to intensify for McSweeney to step down.
Several party powerbrokers vowed to see that Warner has to run in a convention. Despite his general popularity, analysts agree that the senator would face almost certain defeat in a convention dominated by the party's conservative wing.
North could not be reached for comment, but he appeared to leave the door open on another Senate bid in a concession speech Tuesday night.
Recalling his days as the boxing champion at the U.S. Naval Academy, he drew tumultuous cheers when he said: ``The first time I tried, I was defeated in the quarter finals. The second time, I lost in the semi-finals. The third time, I won.''
The prospect of a North comeback offered some hope Wednesday at his campaign headquarters in Chantilly, where two shellshocked, twentysomething conservatives struggled to come to terms with the loss they never saw coming.
``I expected all along we would win,'' said Nick Seskes, a full-time volunteer who helped with North's speeches. ``What happened? It's really strange.''
``I don't know how we lost. I don't have a clue,'' said Crystal Slade, the campaign's paid minority outreach coordinator.
Seskes and Slade ignored the ringing phones, content to let calls be taken by the answering machine. Though they were disappointed, Seskes and Slade said they wouldn't hesitate to respond if North decided to make another run for elected office.
``I think we'll slap `North for President' stickers on our cars now,'' Seskes said. MEMO: Staff writer David M. Poole contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
John Warner opposed Oliver North.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE
by CNB