Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 29, 1994                   TAG: 9404290158
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GROUP HOLDS NORTHLESS DEBATE

The problem: North is declining to debate his rival for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, former Reagan administration budget director Jim Miller.

And if there's one thing that United We Stand, the citizens' group Perot founded, cares about almost as much as the national debt, it's debates.

This spring, the Virginia branch of United We Stand set out to organize a series of debates around the state between the candidates for U.S. Senate - starting Thursday with the Democratic candidates appearing together in Northern Virginia and the Republican candidates debating in Roanoke.

The Democratic debate came off; the Republican one didn't - because North refused to show.

"We're not going to give Jim Miller a platform from which to throw more mud at Ollie," said North spokesman Dan McLagan.

So United We Stand gave Miller a platform all by himself, going ahead with the "debate" in Roanoke City Council chambers that featured Miller, a moderator and a empty chair with North's name on it.

Miller spent more than an hour answering questions from an audience of about 40 people - mostly questions about the federal budget and government reform to which Miller gave predictably conservative answers.

Afterward, Steve Bowling of Roanoke, the 6th Congressional District coordinator for United We Stand, said his group's members are upset that North won't debate Miller.

"These people see this as a snub," Bowling said.

He said that, "from a political point of view," North probably feels he has the Republican nomination locked up, so there's no advantage in debating Miller.

There's the rub with North, Bowling said. "He's not playing by our rules; he's playing by his rules, and we're out to change the political process. I'm not playing by his rules; I want to hear about issues."

Miller charged that North's refusal to debate him fits a pattern of North trying to avoid contact with audiences that might ask difficult questions. "It's almost like he's a celebrity, and there's a velvet rope there and he wants to hold everybody back," Miller said.

Keywords:
POLITICS