Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 7, 1994 TAG: 9409070149
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPDEN-SYDNEY NOTE: LEDE LENGTH: Medium
Independent Douglas Wilder said incumbent Democratic Sen. Charles Robb has lost his credentials as a crime fighter because of Robb's attendance at Virginia Beach parties at which cocaine was used in the early 1980s.
``You were in the company of people that have said drug use is all right,'' Wilder lectured in dramatic tones. ``You've been in the company of people who have been convicted and taken away. You were warned by your own attorney general to stay away. So don't tell me you're going to stand on your high horse now.''
Wilder also accused Republican Oliver North of being aware of a drug-smuggling operation from Central America to the United States in the mid-1980s when he was masterminding the Iran-Contra affair from the White House.
``How could you ride on a plane with drugs being on the plane?'' Wilder demanded.
An angry North replied that allegations that he allowed Contra arms suppliers to fly drugs into the United States have been fully investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency and found groundless.
``The fact is, governor, only you and Lyndon LaRouche are raising the issue of drugs,'' North shot back. LaRouche is a political extremist from Loudoun County who once was jailed for raising money under false pretenses.
In two previous debates, the candidates were loathe to question the integrity of their opponents. But Tuesday's debate at Hampden-Sydney College showed that the campaign has begun to boil and that the candidates believe character is the central issue.
Robb, Wilder and independent Marshall Coleman all accused North of subverting the will of Congress in the 1980s by supplying arms to Nicaraguan Contras fighting a communist dictatorship in that country.
Congress had banned U.S. aid to the insurgents, but North sought to get around the ban by soliciting money from other countries and private individuals.
``In our system, the military is strictly under civilian control,'' Coleman said. ``It's not up to any individual to decide which laws he wants to obey and which laws he wants to ignore.''
Robb took issue with another aspect of Iran-Contra - the selling of arms to Iran for that nation's help in freeing American hostages held in the Middle East.
``It was the policy that we were not going to deal for hostages because it puts every other American at risk when we're ready to deal for hostages,'' he said.
North countered that he was following classified orders from former President Ronald Reagan. North added that he stands on higher moral ground than Robb, who admitted that he was unfaithful to his wife in the early 1980s when he was governor.
``The guiding principle to everything I did was to save lives,'' North said. ``There is no guiding principle to what Senator Robb did.''
Robb acknowledged that ``there are some dents in my armor,'' but said they never affected ``my public duties and my public responsibilities.''
Wilder, who long has feuded with Robb, did not accept his explanation.
``Chuck Robb said that if the people of Virginia felt he was not leveling with them, then he was unfit to be senator of Virginia,'' Wilder said. ``I don't believe he has leveled with them.''
Wilder also accused Robb of spending ``taxpayer dollars'' several years ago to send aides on several trips to try to dissuade people who socialized with Robb from discussing activities with reporters.
``That's just plain wrong,'' countered Robb. Records show that at least one of the trips was financed by money from Robb's campaign fund.
The candidates also clashed on whether the U.S. military should invade Haiti to oust its military rulers and install a democratically elected president.
Robb was the only one who said that he would support sending troops to Haiti.
``We're now in a position where we have no choice but to move ahead. We have drawn a line in the sand,'' Robb said.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB