Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408040044
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Some of the residents at the 55-bed home did wear tags endorsing the re-election of U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., who is in a four-way race. But many of the comments to her dealt with President Lyndon Johnson's domestic programs and with the many activities in which her mother, Lady Bird, had been involved as first lady.
When Charles Robb was making his first bid for public office running for lieutenant governor, some opponents tried to suggest that it was his wife who was pushing him into the political arena.
At that time, Lynda Robb told a Roanoke Times & World-News reporter that nothing could be farther from the truth. Having been in the center of national politics since childhood, she said, she had had enough to last her a lifetime.
Reminded of that while attending the Montgomery County Democrats' picnic over the weekend, she said that is still true but now she is doing these things for her husband, who went on to become Virginia's governor and U.S. senator.
``I think that Chuck has worked hard and done a good job for the people of Virginia,'' she said. But because he is so tied down in the Senate, she said, she gets around as much as possible to see how people feel about various issues and what their concerns are.
``I go back with envelopes in my pocket,'' she said, producing one that someone had given her that day for her husband. ``I'm not the one who can do anything but I can at least take the message back. ... Marriage is a partnership and we really work hard together at doing things.''
She said she frequently discusses with her husband what she has learned.
``No question that I'm a committed, dedicated spouse,'' she said, but ``Chuck is supportive of the things I'm into, too. ... We work together on a lot of issues.''
Her interests have included breast cancer research and the national ``Reading Is Fundamental'' program that encourages young readers and provides them with books.
Even seated in casual conversation, she has an air of intensity and barely contained energy and shows no sign of stress over a lifetime of political activities. She does not want to talk about herself, but about her husband.
Asked about political pundits claiming that Robb was too laid-back in the most recent campaign debate with Republican challenger Oliver North and independents Douglas Wilder and Marshall Coleman, she said her husband focused on issues and not attacks.
``I'm very proud of my husband for being so positive and not trying to throw mud at everybody, like they are,'' she said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB