Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9407010094
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A18 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIENNA LENGTH: Medium
Warner and Coleman toured a Northern Virginia center that helps battered women and pledged their support for federal action to curb domestic violence.
``Senator Warner and I agree our criminal justice system suffers from a blind spot when it comes to domestic violence,'' Coleman said.
The visit came the same day as a televised hearing in the O.J. Simpson case, which has spotlighted domestic violence. Simpson is charged with killing his former wife and a friend of hers.
Warner, Virginia's senior GOP elected official, broke with his party to back Coleman's rogue candidacy.
``Marshall Coleman lived by the rules, lived by the law and will continue to do so,'' Warner said. ``That's why I'm proud to stand by him.''
Warner has refused to support North because of North's convictions for lying to Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal. The convictions were overturned on appeal. Warner encouraged Coleman to run as an independent ``because thousands of Virginians said they wanted a choice,'' Warner said Thursday.
Coleman, a former Republican state attorney general, said the Senate seat held by Democrat Charles Robb is too important to be ceded to a ``Clinton clone.''
``This seat was once held by Senator Harry Byrd, a man of great integrity,'' Coleman said in a reference to Harry F. Byrd Jr., who quit the Democratic Party to win the seat as an independent.
None of the other three candidates in the state's four-way Senate race scheduled appearances Thursday.
``Robb is tending to Senate business today'' and will not campaign until the weekend, said spokesman Bert Rohrer.
Coleman and Warner continued the moderated tone that all the campaigns have adopted recently.
Warner, who repeatedly has called North unfit for office, did not mention the Iran-Contra figure's name Thursday. Coleman did not mention the names of any of his challengers.
During the nationally televised debate on CNN's ``Larry King Live'' Tuesday, the candidate ducked invitations to repeat some of their stronger criticisms of the others.
``I'm not surprised, particularly for the independent candidates, Coleman and [former Democratic Gov. Douglas] Wilder,'' said Thomas Morris, a political scientist and president of Emory & Henry College. ``They both have reputations for political negativism that could become a liability. They don't want to be tagged as too negative right out of the starting gate.''
Morris predicted that if Robb continues to lead the polls this summer, the other three will start lobbing mud.
``When you find yourself trailing behind the front-runner, at that point you have to decide what do to move the polls,'' Morris said. ``Experience has shown negative campaigning will affect the poll results more quickly than anything else.''
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB