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

DATE: THURSDAY, May 26, 1994                   TAG: 9405260096
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

CLUTE TAKES A DIFFERENT ROUTE ON 'PORK-BARREL' INTERSTATE 73

Sylvia Clute, criticizing Virginia's Interstate 73 stand as the product of political pork-barrel maneuvering, said Wednesday that if elected to the U.S. Senate she would travel a different road - one that considers the bigger picture of fiscal responsibility and citizen input.

While neither agreeing or disagreeing with the state's recommendation that I-73 take a U.S. 460/220 path to Roanoke, the Democratic candidate attacked the haste with which the recommendation was made.

She said the recommendation to Congress was arrived at by politicians who place all their hopes in what they think will be an influx of federal dollars for the highway. She claimed that Virginia's congressional leaders, including Sen. Charles Robb, have not questioned what the road would cost Virginia, only where it would go.

"The only question is where ... and that is determined in large parts on where the votes are," said Clute, speaking at a sparsely attended news conference in the Montgomery County Courthouse. "That has got to stop.

"I'm talking about process," said Clute, who would not take a stand on a particular route without more information, but said "the one that has been selected has certain shortcomings."

"I think the politicians seized on a pork barrel opportunity," she said.

Clute separated Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, from her criticism, trying to ally herself with him as someone who questions how Virginia is going to meet its current transportation needs with limited financial resources, and calling for more information on I-73 before decisions on its routing are made.

"My idea is to set in place a plan ... and look at our overall needs before we spend the big money," Clute said. The route chosen by the Commonwealth Transportation Board may be the best route, but "it's never been looked at in the big picture."

Later in the conference, Clute portrayed herself as the only Democratic candidate who disarms Oliver North in a potential November election. But she tempered attacks on her June 14 primary competition with complaints over the news media's coverage of the race.

"What the press does is reward the politicians who are attack artists," instead of those who discuss issues, she said. Asked why she chose to attack Robb on Monday, suggesting that he traded his vote for Clarence Thomas' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in exchange for a second chance at testifying before a grand jury, she said the insinuation was not new, but that the media just decided to report it now.

"That's the sad state of our political process and our media," she said. She did not back off of her suggestion, though, and took the offensive against state Sen. Virgil Goode, another Democratic candidate.

Clute charged that Goode's conservatism makes him little different from North, the front-runner for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat. "What would they debate? They agree on just about everything."

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB