Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402260023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Oliver North launched his Senate campaign by going head-to-head with Larry King and Ted Koppel on nationally-televised interview shows, batting back the expected questions about his role in the Iran-Contra affair with a theatrical flair.
OK, so North can hit the fastball.
But what happens if you throw North a curve - and ask him where he stands on some tricky local issue that, as a U.S. senator, he might have to take a position on?
Just how much does North - who as a National Security Council aide jetted around the globe to arrange the arms-for-hostages trade in the Reagan administration - know about the less-glamorous issues of backwoods Virginia?
Suppose, for instance, North were asked about where the proposed Interstate 73 ought to go? After all, it's Congress that will have the final say on the route, and already Virginia's representatives in Congress are lining up behind their favorite routes.
North's answers to those questions are revealing - but so are those of the other Senate candidates.
In a recent interview with the Roanoke Times & World-News, North acknowledged he hasn't dealt much with what he called "geographic-specific issues" around the state.
"My focus on Virginia issues has been on things like NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement], that I think are good for Virginia, and spending and taxes," North said. "To the extent you can reduce both, that's good for Virginia."
As for I-73, North readily admitted he didn't know enough to take a position on where the proposed Detroit-to-South Carolina highway should go once it enters Virginia, probably somewhere near Bluefield.
"I have not looked at the routing of it," he said. "I can give you more later, after I've looked into it. If you let me, I'll find out more and get back to you."
Then, he quickly added: "I'm not a typical politician." And unlike a "typical politician," North said he wasn't afraid to admit when he didn't know something.
Sure enough, within two hours, a North aide called back to say the former Marine lieutenant colonel had researched the I-73 issue and now had a position: North supports the proposal by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, to bring I-73 as close to Roanoke as possible and then run the road south toward Martinsville.
"Roanoke is a highly-populated area but has been overlooked in the past for highway construction," the aide said. North believes I-73 would "contribute to economic development throughout the entire region."
How did North so quickly figure out which route to support?
For one thing, his staff called Goodlatte's top aide to see what the only Republican congressman in Western Virginia thought.
Goodlatte's staff didn't tell North's staff what to say, cautions Goodlatte aide Tim Phillips. "They simply called and asked for some clarification on part of Bob's proposal. They already seemed familiar with it."
North's initial ignorance - and his quick salute of a Roanoke route - stand in marked contrast to those of the other three Senate hopefuls.
The incumbent, Democrat Charles Robb, sent word through a spokeswoman that he won't be backing a specific route until he's studied the Virginia Department of Transportation report on I-73, due out in March.
Sylvia Clute, the Richmond lawyer who's challenging Robb for the Democratic nomination, said she, too, "needs more information" and wanted to hear more public comment before endorsing a specific route.
And what about Jim Miller, the former Reagan administration budget director who is North's only rival for the Republican nomination? His spokesman said Miller is busy rounding up GOP support, and hasn't had time to respond to the newspaper's inquiries about I-73.
The bottom line: Of the four Senate hopefuls, only one is willing to back a specific route for I-73 - North.
What, if anything, does this little exercise say about the candidates - and North, in particular?
It's easy to read too much into North's quick response to the I-73 question, caution two of the state's best-known political analysts, but both agree it says something.
Is this just North's plain-speaking or is it a political ploy?
Virginia Tech political analyst Bob Denton believes North is likely to take similar clear-cut stands on a whole range of issues - provided someone asks about them.
North has to, Denton says, for a number of reasons.
"What's the rap on North? He lied to Congress," Denton says. So from a political point of view, it's imperative that North persuade voters he's honest.
One way to do that is to do just what he did on I-73, Denton says. "He admitted, one, `I don't know what you're talking about,' and two, he got back to you. He kept his word. That's the kind of thing that fits this campaign, that he means what he says and says what he means."
North's quick response also plays to the "outsider" image he's cultivating. "That reinforces what he's trying to run on, that he's decisive and not afraid to take positions," Denton says.
"It's a style," says Emory & Henry College political analyst Tom Morris. "The success of his candidacy depends on him distinguishing himself from other politicians.
"The danger is one can simplify the issues. There are some issues that don't lend themselves to a two-hour turnaround. The Robb approach is the typical approach - wait-and-see."
But Morris also notes that by adopting Goodlatte's position, North was sticking on the safe side, as well. "He's lining up with a fellow Republican from the region and because of the lack of support he's getting from [U.S. Sen.] John Warner, he wants to line up with as many [other] Republicans as he can."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB