THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250588
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE AND DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIENNA LENGTH: 67 lines
When Ollie North walked the annual Halloween Parade two years ago, cheers and jeers rained upon him like leaves falling from the trees in this Northern Virginia town.
The failed candidate was absent from this year's event on Wednesday, but his polarizing image still stirred voters as they pondered Virginia's U.S. Senate election.
Numerous 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 sabotaging North.
``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 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 these populous Washington suburbs, considering that John Warner 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.
Beginning last weekend, Mark Warner's campaign began confronting the North issue in advertisements on radio and television.
``Senator Warner opposes a woman's right to choose, just like Oliver North,'' a woman 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 Ollie North is misguided, because the Republican was Virginia's most popular politician long before North came along.
``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.
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 into a frenzy.
``I shook the hand of a TV guy,'' said Jennifer Ege, a bubble-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.''
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES
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