THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 28, 1996 TAG: 9610280053
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: DECISION 96
Today: John Warner's special expertise, his connection to military
matters.
Tuesday: mark Warner's entrepreneurial savvy and forward-thinking
vision.
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 253 lines
With 14 hours of campaign wrinkles in his shirt and a long day's shadow under his eyes, John Warner called for the black book.
In it was a collection of cheat sheets, detailing a variety of military projects and complex spending formulas approved by Congress. Preparing to speak to a group of military retirees in Portsmouth, Warner was determined to provide a full summary of what he's done on their behalf.
``Was that my bill?'' he asked an aide, getting a last-minute briefing before taking the podium. ``I've got to get this stuff straight.''
As Warner stumps the state this fall, the programs listed in that black book are forming the front line of his political defenses in his Senate re-election campaign.
From Hampton Roads, where Navy shipbuilding contracts are cornerstones of the economy, to Northern Virginia, where thousands of military and civilian workers run and service the Pentagon bureaucracy, Warner is reminding voters that his seniority and committee assignments give him considerable influence over the military budget.
Warner will tell you that he's never asked his colleagues to buy a ship or save a base that wasn't good for the country. The Cold War has passed, but the national security demands a strong, modern military, he argues.
``I have spent the bulk of my career on national defense, security matters and anti-terrorism,'' the three-term Republican said in a recent interview. ``I was really elected for that reason.''
Warner's strategy is obvious, and potent, in Virginia, where more than 230,000 residents draw Defense Department paychecks and tens of thousands more work on military contracts.
And it's one that even his political foes concede Warner can justifiably pursue. ``Our focus really is on education,'' a high-ranking source in Democrat Mark R. Warner's campaign said. While the challenger is focusing on the future and attacking the senator's votes on education and health, ``it's a little more difficult'' to make headway on defense, he said.
Largely because of Warner, ``things like aircraft carriers have been moved up (and funded) when they weren't even budgeted'' by the Pentagon, said Frank Sullivan, a Democrat and a retired staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee.
``Over the years, there was always a fight about aircraft carriers, and John Warner was always in the fight.''
The 18-year Senate veteran is at home in a crowd of sea dogs and leathernecks. Before joining the Senate, he served in both the Navy and the Marine Corps. ``I'm the only member in the history of the U.S. Senate who ever had to go to boot camp twice,'' he says whenever he can.
His language can turn sailor-salty and colorful at times. After revelations that his organization had put out a TV commercial with a bogus photograph of his opponent, he told military retirees:
``Wish me luck. I'm in heavy seas, but I'll tell you we're battening down the damn hatches and I'm on the bridge and this campaign will survive and we'll win.''
But the ties run deeper than talk.
He can tell stories about his father's war wounds, and the old flat-rimmed 5th Division helmet that used to hang on the wall, and say things like, ``I would not be a U.S. senator had it not been for what the wonderful Navy of ours did for me.
``I learned at my father's knee the meaning of patriotism. The meaning of service, honor and duty.''
As the second-ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, John Warner has been a visible - and by many accounts, effective - advocate for Navy programs and shipyard interests in Hampton Roads.
``The proof is in the pudding,'' said Sullivan, the retired staff director. Among states, Virginia is second only to California in defense employment and contracting. In 1995, the most recent year for which records are available, Virginia firms held more than $12 billion in defense contracts. That was one-third less than top-ranked California, but the Golden State has roughly five times Virginia's population.
And last year, Virginia was the only state among those with a major defense presence to add jobs amid the Pentagon's effort to close excess bases. The state picked up about 4,000 jobs, most in Hampton Roads, because of base closures and transfers from other states; California lost 38,000.
Warner's defense advocacy already has paid off for him at the ballot box this year, said Bill Wood, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Political Leadership.
In June, fending off a primary challenge from former Reagan administration budget chief James C. Miller, Warner carried every precinct in Hampton Roads, the East Coast's largest military and shipbuilding center.
His success came despite opposition from the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition and religious broadcaster M.G. ``Pat'' Robertson of Virginia Beach. Both Robertson and the coalition, the political arm of his on-air ministry, enjoy a huge following in their cities.
``They voted for pork instead of the Lord,'' Wood said.
To the extent he has them, Warner's critics on defense are all to his political left, arguing that he and other congressional Republicans are too quick to give the Pentagon whatever it wants - and then some.
``The kinds of military equipment that we're spending a lot of money on are still Cold War weapons systems,'' said retired Vice Adm. John J. Shanahan. ``Apparently the military leadership and the civilian leadership have not recognized that the world is changing. . . and we aren't restructuring our armed forces to deal with future threats.''
Shanahan, director of the Center for Defense Information, a think tank of retired officers who generally support smaller military budgets, puts Warner among a group of Congressional leaders who he says have placed the immediate economic interests of their constituents ahead of the nation's long-term interest in a smaller, leaner military.
Whatever its merits, that line of attack is hardly promising in a state so historically conservative and dependent on defense spending.
``I would like to think that he sees the larger picture, but unfortunately all politics are local,'' Shanahan said.
``Warner is no great strategic thinker in the (Sam) Nunn or (Richard) Lugar sense,'' said Lawrence Korb, an assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration.
The Virginian ``has a sense that the services never have enough,'' Korb said, so he works to get them more and to make sure Virginia stays in the upper ranks of states supplying it.
Still, Korb argues that by hard work and tenacity, Warner has established himself along with senators Nunn and Lugar and a small group of others as among Congress' most important voices on military matters. And with Nunn retiring this year, ``he'll be more influential,'' if re-elected, Korb said.
``Warner is the most authoritative defense voice on the Republican side (of Armed Services), and I think he runs a close second to Sam Nunn as the most authoritative defense voice on the entire committee,'' said John Hillen, a defense analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Hillen argues that Warner is underrated as a thinker and anything but an apologist for the services. When Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before the committee last month to outline plans to keep 5,000 troops in Bosnia after congressional authorization for the operation expires, Warner was among the most outspoken critics of the idea, Hillen noted.
``Warner wasn't apologizing for Gen. Shali, he chewed his ass. . . . He doesn't take garbage from the military as far as I've been able to see,'' Hillen said.
For the past two years, Warner has focused much of his attention on a high-stakes battle over submarine contracts. In the midst of designing a new generation of attack subs, the Navy wanted to steer work on at least the first few of those ships to Electric Boat of Groton, Conn.
Backed by the Clinton administration, the plan would have taken Newport News Shipbuilding out of the sub business, perhaps permanently. And the Peninsula yard, Electric Boat's only competitor for sub work, wanted at least a share of the 30-sub, $50 billion program.
Early last year, Newport News began a massive lobbying and ad campaign to pressure Congress to order competitive bidding on the subs. Its calls for competition and claims that it could save the Navy billions on the work found sympathetic ears among House Republicans.
But in the Senate, the New England yard had powerful friends in both parties, particularly Maine Republican William Cohen, chairman of the Armed Services' Seapower Subcommittee.
With the House pressing for a plan to build four ``technology demonstrator'' subs, each with a different design, before beginning the new line, closed-door negotiations over the entire defense budget dragged on for weeks.
The stalemate was broken when Warner outlined a compromise to split the first four ships in the new line between Electric Boat and Newport News, several sources said. The senator also crafted statutory language to satisfy the House's desire to push the Navy toward developing new sub technologies.
Though other members, particularly Republican Rep. Herbert H. Bateman of Newport News and Democratic Rep. Norman Sisisky of Petersburg, also played prominent roles, Warner ``was the absolute key,'' said one source familiar with the negotiations.
This year, when the deal threatened to unravel because the administration didn't budget enough money to cover Newport News' share of the work, Warner angrily accused Clinton and Navy leaders of reneging on their commitments. ``It's clear to me, and others, that there was a decided attempt not to put the dollars behind the program,'' he fumed.
Then, pressed by Warner at a public hearing, Defense Secretary William J. Perry said that if any extra funds for defense could be found, the subs should have first dibs on it. When the defense bill finally was passed, the subs were funded in full.
Though he acknowledges that others were helpful, Warner is effusive about his own role in the sub fight. ``That was a mighty burden we had, to turn around the president of the United States, the secretary of defense.''
``I was able to persuade my colleagues that this is good for the country. . between $50 and $60 billion, at this one single yard in a very small state, tightly controlled by labor interests.''
Such bombast notwithstanding, associates say the knack for compromise Warner displayed in the sub fight typifies his handling of defense issues.
``He doesn't have an enemy on the Hill,'' said one former aide. ``If he ever gets challenged, he's got support on both sides of the aisle.''
``When you hold a meeting on the Hill, John Warner attends - something I cannot say about a lot of members,'' said Bill Anduhazy, a former House Democratic staffer who watched Warner from across the negotiating table through years of defense budget conferences.
``He's always tried to break logjams,'' Anduhazy said. ``I felt comfortable when John Warner walked into the room we were going to make some progress.'' MEMO: Staff writer Robert Little contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BILL TIERNAN
The Virginian-Pilot
John Warner's strategy is potent in Virginia, where more than
230,000 residents draw Defense Department paychecks and tens of
thousands more work on military contracts.
The job interview
As Virginians look forward to the Nov. 5 election, they're
thinking a lot about the qualities they want in their leaders.
Virginians attach roughly equal importance to the candidates' stands
on the issues and the candidates' leadership qualities and
characters. We posed questions about leadership to the candidates
for Congress. We'll run one a day up to Election Day.
What Virginians Are Thinking
54 percent of Virginians say it's extremely important for a
senator to make sure Virginia gets as much federal funding as
possible
46 percent of Virginians say it's extremely important for a
senator to be an experienced public servant
SOURCE: The Harwood Group, a Maryland-based research firm,
designed the survey at the request of The Virginian-Pilot. It was
conducted by Communications Center Inc. of Washington.
Communications Center Inc. of Washington surveyed 672 adult
Virginians from June 27 to July 1. The margin of error is plus or
minus 4 percentage points, with 95 percent confidence.
John W. Warner
Special skills
The three-term senator served in the Navy and Marine Corps, and
was secretary of the Navy under Richard Nixon.
He has always made military affairs a focus. If he's re-elected
and Republicans retain their Senate majority, Warner stands to
become chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee in January. He'll look
out for the shipbuilding programs he's always followed, particularly
the scheduled down payment on another new aircraft carrier for
Newport News, he said.
One example of his best work
He led the fight to reverse President Clinton's decision,
announced in October 1992, to stop submarine construction at Newport
News Shipbuilding. He developed a Senate plan, which was joined in
by the House and enacted into law, that guarantees Newport News
Shipbuilding's participation in future submarine construction
programs.
Career
U.S. senator, 1978-present; administrator, American Revolution
Bicentennial Administration, 1974-1976; secretary, U.S. Navy,
1972-1974; undersecretary, U.S. Navy, 1969-1972; assistant U.S.
attorney, 1956-1960.
Education
University of Virginia Law School, 1953; Washington & Lee
University, B.S. in engineering, 1949.
Family
Now single. Three children, two grandchildren.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE INTERVIEW CANDIDATE SENATE RACE VIRGINIA
1996 by CNB