ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: FRIDAY, May 28, 1993                   TAG: 9306010196
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HEADLINE MISSED POLL'S SIGNIFICANCE

U.S. SEN. Charles Robb is in deep trouble. A recent Mason-Dixon Research Poll showed only 43 percent of Democratic Party voters support another term for Robb.

In a three-way comparison, Robb has the support of 33 percent of Virginia voters, Gov. Doug Wilder has 28 percent, and Lt. Col. Oliver North has 28 percent. With the poll's 3.5 percentage margin of error, these three men are in a virtual tie.

It is not unusual for an incumbent senator in midterm to have the support of at least 60 percent of the voters. Robb falls far short. He cannot remove the serious doubts that many Virginians have about him.

Why, then, did this newspaper use the headline, "Poll says Robb leads 2 rivals in Senate bid"? The big news in the poll is incumbent Robb's weak support, especially when he is compared with North. GLENNA QUESENBERRY RADFORD 


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