Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 21, 1994 TAG: 9409230078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Robb unveiled support from several dozen high-ranking active and retired military officers and promised to match North "man for man and woman for woman" by opening Veterans for Robb chapters across Virginia.
The announcement at a hotel reception came as a veterans' group backing North said it has more than 5,000 members and as a new poll to be unveiled today in the Richmond Times-Dispatch shows Robb trailing North by 37 to 31 percentage points.
Several of those attending the Robb announcement said they are concerned that North appears to have a monopoly on the patriotic vote. "Ollie North's not the only war hero in this race," said former Virginia Beach State Sen. Moody "Sonny" Stallings, a lance corporal in Vietnam who was master of ceremonies for the event.
"I just felt that Senator Robb needed equal time from the military side. Mr. North has made great inroads with the military based on his brochures," added retired Marine Lt. Gen. Chuck Pitman of Alexandria. A Republican, Pitman was part of a group of military veterans who worked unsuccessfully to deny North the GOP Senate nomination in the spring.
The veterans are only the latest group to voice concern that Robb's campaign against North has been unusually low-key. Robb spent much of the summer in Washington attending to Senate duties, and only this week answered a onslaught of television advertising by North. Even though two Robb ads are now running across the state, the purchase of air time appears to be well below that of North during many weeks this summer.
In an informal press conference, Robb discounted the impression that fund raising may be a problem. His campaign manager informed him just this week that "we are in the best cash position we have had at any time I can recall," he said.
Robb said he is "simply husbanding resources," and that "no one should be fooled by my relatively mild-mannered approach. I am prepared to fight, and to fight very hard," he said.
While several of the officers endorsing Robb pointed primarily to his Senate achievements, others said their distaste for North was equally important in their decisions.
"I have no use whatsoever for Oliver North," said retired Marine Brig. Gen. Gail Reals, who at the time of her retirement was the highest-ranking woman in the Marine Corps. "I believe he violated his oath to defend the Constitution. The things he did were things that undermine our basic institutions. It makes me shudder."
Asked if he has respect for North, Pitman replied: "No. I'm trying not to say anything bad about him. But I just don't have it, and that's a fact."
But retired Lt. Col. Davey L. Stanley, who is heading the North for Senate Veterans Coalition, said such views are not shared by thousands of Virginia veterans. Stanley, who served in both the Army and the Air Force, said he seldom meets a veteran who is opposed to North.
"I'll hang in here to the ends of the earth for him," he said, noting that he has logged over 25,000 miles and given up about $80,000 in income from his law practice to work for North since February.
Stanley said those veterans concerned about North's involvement in the Iran-Contra affair are usually mollified when he explains that North never lied under oath to Congress. And he said three items work against Robb with military voters: the senator's support for gays in the military; his willingness to let women serve in front-line combat; and his failure to support punishment for desecration of the American flag.
Several of the veterans endorsing Robb voiced concerns about some of those positions but said his overall record of public service outweighs any differences.
"There is a gulf a mile wide between the quality of Chuck Robb's understanding of that Constitution and Ollie North's," Stallings said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB