Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993 TAG: 9311100181
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
"I am the best candidate, because I do not have the negatives of my opponents," Clute said at a news conference this week.
Clute, a Richmond lawyer, said the fight between Robb and Wilder, longtime political enemies, will be "a massive mud bath."
"Oliver North has more than enough ammunition to destroy Robb and Wilder, and that's only if they do not destroy themselves first," she said.
North, a former Marine lieutenant colonel involved in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages deal, is considered the front-runner for the Republican senatorial nomination.
Democrats will meet Dec. 11 to decide whether to choose their nominee in a convention or primary. Wilder and Clute have come out in favor of a primary. Robb has not stated a preference. Clute said she will formally declare her candidacy after the Dec. 11 meeting.
Robb and Wilder have a long history of enmity. Last year, three former Robb staffers pleaded guilty to various infractions involving the leaking of a secretly recorded cellular phone conversation between Wilder, then lieutenant governor, and a supporter in 1987. According to transcripts leaked to several newspapers, Wilder told the supporter that Robb's political career was over because of allegations about his social and personal life while governor from 1980 to 1984.
Robb has consistently denied allegations of marital infidelity and attendance at parties in Virginia Beach where drugs were used.
Wilder has said that Robb is unfit to serve as senator.
"Robb and Wilder are incapable of ending their feud," Clute said.
She said her candidacy "will deprive North of the opportunity to run a race on scandal, vindictiveness or tax-and-spend. If North is forced to run a positive campaign, he is without ammunition."
Clute is a former Peace Corps volunteer who came to Richmond in 1974 as a lawyer with Reynolds Metals Co. She has owned her own law practice since 1975. She is a founding member and chairwoman of the former Women's Bank in Richmond. Women's Bank merged with First Virginia Banks Inc. in 1984.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB