Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993 TAG: 9310020087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE and GREG SCHNEIDER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Uh oh, you say. If we can't trust the candidates not to use forbidden pictures of one another, can we trust them not to make insipid claims about fighting crime?
Terry pushed the envelope on Monday when she made a presentation to the Virginia Governmental Employees Association that featured footage from a summertime debate in front of the Virginia Bar Association.
Allen claimed it violated the "no use" deal.
Terry insisted it did not.
Did so, he said.
Did not.
Did so.
All day Wednesday, the campaigns lobbed hate notes back and forth via fax and phone.
The Allen team said the "no use" agreement had been voided, raising the awful spectre of living rooms across the commonwealth suddenly being flooded by images from the debates - grainy, Rescue 911-style footage of crackling exchanges like this:
Mary Sue: "The issue is trust."
George: "Vote for change."
The Terry collective responded that the agreement was not broken because it only mentioned advertisements, not personal appearances.
The Allen brain trust then threatened to pull out of Friday's debate before the Virginia Manufacturer's Association if Terry didn't sign a new "no use" agreement. And she had to sign it; her campaign manager's signature wasn't good enough.
Terry refused. Allen backed down. The debate went on.
All this on the heels of "Tapegate," an episode in which the Terry junta accused the Allen jihad of stealing television commercials.
This torrid little affair consumed them for the better part of last weekend.
"This thing is HUGE," bellowed junta honcho Tom King in exclusive tips to every reporter in his Rolodex.
The scandal broke when Allen's apostles called a news conference to denounce a new Terry commercial for being inaccurate.
Trouble was, the commercial had not aired.
Disciples of Terry thought back to the night before, when members of Allen's gang made comments that could only mean they had a contraband copy of the ad.
King badgered reporters for the next 24 hours. His ad had been burgled, he said. Thieves! Liars!
The Allenators, unable to hide a certain smugness, offered conflicting explanations of how they knew about the ad. Of course, it was all very innocent.
Of course, they did send out transcripts. Which means they had somehow acquired something they weren't supposed to have.
Then again, it's also true that in the ad, Terry took credit for suggesting a law-enforcement program that actually originated with Allen.
Not that it matters. The commercial never got on TV.
ROB EURE and GREG SCHNEIDER are reporters for this newspaper's Richmond bureau.
by CNB