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

DATE: MONDAY, June 20, 1994                   TAG: 9406200004
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COULD ROBB'S CELEBRATION BE PREVIEW OF NOVEMBER?

U.S. Sen. Charles Robb entered the Northern Virginia hotel ballroom with a smile brighter than television klieg lights. His three daughters sashayed to the beat of "Still the One" by the pop group Orleans. His wife, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, got tears in her eyes as she waded through a sea of screaming Democrats.

How long had it been since the Robbs had reason to celebrate?

Robb, of course, had done more Tuesday than vanquish three lesser-known challengers in the Democratic primary. He had taken the first step out from under a scandal-tinged cloud that has followed him for six years.

"I am an extraordinarily lucky man," Robb said in his victory speech, "because I have a strong, loving and supportive family like you just wouldn't believe."

There was no other mention of his troubles. No fist-pumping vindication. Just a typical Robb speech that was so long and plodding that it left his supporters on the verge of heatstroke and his wife, in stage whispers, prodding him to wrap things up.

The speech, while short on sound bites, served as a preview of a general election campaign that will offer voters a sharp contrast with Republican nominee Oliver North.

Robb reiterated his intention to embrace President Clinton, whom strategists for North hope to demonize.

"I am very pleased and proud to be working with a president, a vice president and an administration who understand the constructive, positive role that the government can play in our lives," Robb said.

He also struck at North's message of government as oppressor.

"It is important," Robb said, "that we understand that you just can't be against something or everything. You have to stand for something.

"It is a whole lot easier to tear something down . . . than it is to carefully put it together."

Robb drew the biggest applause when he talked about "rights" - civil rights for minorities, equal rights and reproductive rights for women and human rights for homosexuals.

"These are the kind of issues that define us as a party."

In a typical year, a Democratic nominee would be tempted to hedge on an issue as explosive as gays in the military. But this year, with a four-way contest in which the winner may get no more than 30 percent of the vote, Robb can afford to stick with his "principled" beliefs.

Robb will focus on his home base of Northern Virginia, where one-third of the state's voters live. And he will run as an unabashed Democrat at a time of GOP resurgence in Virginia.

If it works, Robb will really have something to celebrate in November.

by CNB