GOP WON'T DISCONNECT MARY SUE TERRY HOT LINE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 27, 1993                   TAG: 9302270220
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
GOP WON'T DISCONNECT MARY SUE TERRY HOT LINE
Democratic and Republican lawmakers called Friday for GOP State Chairman Patrick McSweeney to pull the plug on a "Mary Sue Terry hot line" he opened earlier this week to collect information on the Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
While several legislators decried it as a political "dirt" line, McSweeney insisted the special phone in state GOP headquarters in Richmond "will not be disconnected and terminated."
"This is an attempt to stifle legitimate campaign inquiry," McSweeney said of the criticism.
Republicans said the hot line - 804-780-0024 - is for use by state employees and others familiar with Terry to call "without fear of reprisal" to report on her "seven-year record of abuse and mismanagement" as attorney general.
In a written statement, McSweeney compared the hot line to federal and state "whistle-blower" lines established to report waste, fraud and abuse.
"We have no interest in gossip, innuendo or unsubstantiated rumors," McSweeney said. "We are, however, interested in information relative to [Terry's] performance as a public official . . . Her record and her plans for Virginia are legitimate and proper issues to discuss."
But Republican Del. Robert Orrock of Caroline County, the recent target of a Democratic news release comparing his opposition to a gun control bill to that of the Ku Klux Klan, called for the "dirty tricks" to end.
In a speech on the House floor, Orrock expressed "disdain" for the hot line and demanded that McSweeney disconnect it.
"I think all [GOP] members agree with me that there have been enough dirty tricks no matter where they come from. Let's just go at it [fall campaigning] straight on," Orrock told reporters.
McSweeney claimed sole responsibility for the hot line Friday. Spokesmen for Earle Williams and former Rep. George Allen, two of the three Republicans seeking to challenge Terry for governor in November, said they had no knowledge of it.
Pam Womack, Terry's campaign manager, said Republicans are using the hot line to "divert attention away from their own [intraparty] fights. This is real typical of Republicans. People are genuinely tired of it."
Keywords:
POLITICS
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB