Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 30, 1994 TAG: 9403300061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DALE EISMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Miller released a letter urging Warner to attack Democratic Sen. Charles Robb with the same ferocity Warner has reserved for fellow Republican Oliver North, Miller's rival to oppose Robb this fall. At stake is the support of conservative Republicans alienated by Warner's rejection of North. Miller said that Robb, dogged by questions about friendships with alleged drug users and alleged extramarital affairs, "engaged in a pattern of embarrassing and destructive behavior . . . and sets an example of public conduct that is intolerable."
Warner declined to respond directly, but promised to reply in a letter today and to comment during a forum this afternoon at the University of Virginia.
The extraordinary exchange illustrated how Warner, the leading vote-getter in the history of the Virginia GOP, has become an outcast within his party. His pointed refusal last fall to endorse Mike Farris, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, enraged conservatives, particularly the evangelical Christians who propelled Farris' campaign.
And Warner has fueled the fire this spring with a series of high-profile attacks on North. While officially neutral in the nominating contest, he has called North unfit for the Senate because of felony convictions - overturned on technical grounds - in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal.
Warner has said that, party ties notwithstanding, he will not endorse candidates with whom he has fundamental disagreements. "Political expediency may be acceptable to some, but not to me," he wrote last fall.
But Miller warned him Tuesday that "your arguments on matters central to public service and honest leadership will continue to lose their potency . . . if Republican activists continue to view you as a man with no regard for their opinions."
North appeared pleased by the Warner-Miller split. He said Miller's letter was in response to a North campaign mailing this week that likened Warner to a ventriloquist and Miller to his dummy.
Just two weeks ago, Miller and Warner appeared to be working in concert as both released a letter in which former President Ronald Reagan said he was "getting pretty steamed" at North's statements concerning Iran-Contra.
Polls taken since then have shown Miller leading, and North trailing, Robb among voters generally. But private soundings of GOP activists indicate North may still be the favorite of the several thousand Republicans who actually will decide the nomination.
North underscored those soundings Tuesday by claiming he has secured 4,479 delegates to the June 3-4 convention, about 100 more than needed for the nomination. A spokesman for Miller shrugged off the claim, noting that North has refused to follow Miller's lead in releasing actual lists of delegates who have committed to support him. Committed or not, though, delegates can vote as they see fit at the convention.
North also sought to undercut Miller's attacks on his integrity, unveiling a list of military veterans who support him and offering testimonials to his honesty and courage from some who served with him in the Marine Corps.
Among those backing him was a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Adm. Thomas Moorer.
North "did his duties well" at the National Security Council, said retired Lt. Gen. Edward Bronars, who as deputy chief of staff for the Corps helped get North assigned to the NSC in the early 1980s.
Bronars defended North's misleading of congressmen about efforts to funnel illegal aid to Nicaragua's Contra rebels in their battle with communist Sandinistas.
"Everybody knew there were key congressmen and senators that were dealing with the Sandinistas," he said. North could not speak openly to the politicians, Bronars said, because he did not want to "feed the enemy information."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB