Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FREDERICKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
``Can you imagine me having a press conference and nobody coming? It hasn't happened yet,'' North told a group of business leaders.
Independent candidates Marshall Coleman and Douglas Wilder made campaign appearances in Richmond and Wytheville, respectively, and Democratic incumbent Sen. Charles Robb received the endorsement of the United Mine Workers of America.
North, the Republican nominee, said he would slash congressional staffs and eliminate perks like free airport parking if elected. He also repeated his pledge to serve only two six-year terms and work to impose that limit on all senators.
``Will that make me unpopular? You bet,'' North said at the start of a three-day campaign swing through central and Western Virginia. ``Everybody says, `How are you going to get along with these guys?' I don't intend to, and you wouldn't want me to,'' he said.
North gained fame as the central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal seven years ago. The former Marine since has become a millionaire author, public speaker and small businessman.
North has been criticized for accepting more than half his large donations from outside Virginia. But he said the national support is really a boon.
North quoted Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who recently predicted North could lead a successful effort for term limits based on North's national base of support.
``That was a very nice thing he said ... and he was right,'' North said. Other senators ``are going to have to get along with me.''
In Richmond, Coleman announced a fund-raising committee of 35 business leaders, lawyers and former government officials. The team includes former Republican Gov. Linwood Holton, Vienna-based Ringling Brothers president Charles Smith, and Sheila Tate, former President George Bush's campaign spokeswoman.
Coleman acknowledged the committee was weighted toward Northern Virginia with just 11 fund-raisers outside his home base.
``There's plenty of money up there to finance the whole campaign, but I want people to participate all over the state,'' he said at a State Capitol news conference.
He said he was pleased with his fund-raising so far but wanted more money for a fall television advertising blitz. Coleman declined to reveal his fund-raising goal.
Coleman said he welcomed money from political action committees. ``I'll take it!'' he said, but he added that PACs traditionally give to party candidates.
The former GOP state attorney general said a recent spate of North endorsements by prominent Republicans fits the ``man-bites-dog'' category of news.
``Whenever North gets a Republican to support him - it's headlines,'' Coleman said.
During a campaign stop in Wytheville, Wilder attacked Robb for proposing a gas tax increase of 50 cents a gallon over five years.
``Anyone who has ever been to Southwest Virginia understands that driving is not a luxury in these parts, it's a way of life,'' Wilder said.
``How can Chuck Robb justify this tax increase to farmers who have to drive 50 miles a day to and from the farmers' market? How does he expect working parents who have to drive in opposite directions to their jobs to use less gasoline?''
Robb spokesman Bert Rohrer said the issue was an old one. He said Robb first proposed the tax last year.
``It's deficit reduction,'' Rohrer said. ``Everybody talks about it, but nobody wants to do it.''
Robb won the UMW's backing because he is the only Senate candidate ``talking about the issues that affect the lives of working men and women and their families,'' said union board member Jackie Stump, a Democratic state legislator from Buchanan County.
The UMW has about 7,300 members in Virginia.
Meanwhile, both Robb and Wilder have decided not to appear at a closed debate Saturday sponsored by the Virginia Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police. Robb said he cannot attend because of Senate duties, while Wilder refuses to show up because the public and the news media are barred from the debate.
North and Coleman have accepted the FOP's invitation.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB