Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 29, 1994 TAG: 9408290075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Are the state's pundits buying this line? That's the question for this week's "Pundits on Parade":
nBob Holsworth, Virginia Commonwealth University: "Yes, I buy it, although there's a new conventional wisdom emerging that Robb has done this deliberately, that he didn't want to run from the front of the pack. He wanted North up there so he could take shots at him. But North has had a great August. He's lit a prairie fire among rural Virginians that in a way resembles what George Allen did last year. He's an extraordinary campaigner. He's certainly beatable, but no one inside Virginia will laugh at North as a candidate anymore."
nBob Roberts, James Madison University: "I think what North has done this summer is close the gaps within the Republican Party and bring Republicans back together. If he can do that, that brings him up to 43 percent [which is what Mike Farris, the GOP's unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor, received last year]. Apparently, he's done that. I'm not sure he's expanded his base with independents yet. He still has terrible problems with women, especially in Northern Virginia. If Doug Wilder holds his base, though, Chuck Robb is in terrible trouble. Robb can't attack Wilder, for fear of losing African-American voters, so he's been right to bide his time to see what happens to Doug Wilder. Clearly, North is a much stronger candidate than people took him for."
nTom Morris, Emory & Henry College: "There's no question that North has done the better job this summer. He's got a clear campaign strategy and he's been aggressively pursuing it, to consolidate his rural base. But it's much too early to say everything has shifted his way. The stronger North becomes, the greater the chance that the anti-North vote will consolidate around Robb."
Button-holing the opposition
Douglas Wilder, a mischievous gleam in his eye, fished deep into his coat pocket during his recent swing through Southwest Virginia, then produced his prize: a bright red "Robb for Senate" button.
What's Wilder doing with a button for his archrival? He says he spotted it on a woman at the Tazewell County Fair. Wilder says he took the time to "educate" the woman about Robb's record, especially Robb's call for a higher gas tax to help with deficit reduction.
A few minutes later, Wilder says, the woman came back and gave him the button.
Coalitions or confrontation?
One of the subtexts in this campaign concerns just what Virginians are looking for in a senator.
On that score, North and Marshall Coleman regularly butt heads, as the Republican nominee and the Republican-turned-independent vie for the GOP vote.
Not surprisingly, each says he would be a conservative senator who would oppose President Clinton's policies. North, though, says Virginians need a senator who will be heard - and he vows to be a voluble legislator. "They may stick me in the furtherest corner of the Senate but my voice will be heard," he says.
Coleman, meanwhile, emphasizes "effectiveness," that he'd be able to work with other senators and build coalitions in a way that the confrontational North couldn't. "His experience inside the Beltway was a complete failure," Coleman said of North during a recent stop in Roanoke. "He got fired from his job. I can't see his experience in getting things done."
Wilder, by the book
Wilder, who's already been the subject of three books, unveiled his own last week - a 16-page glossy booklet that lauds his accomplishments as governor from 1990-94.
Wilder said the booklet proves that "I'm the only candidate running on a record of proven leadership for Virginia." He said copies are being distributed to libraries across the state, where they will be available for public perusal.
North, by the numbers
If you've gotten a phone call lately from a "pollster" asking how you feel about guns, parole and Senate race, it likely was from North's campaign, trying to find voters supportive of his conservative positions.
North's campaign has embarked on what it calls an "unprecedented" phone bank operation to identify voters with conservative stripes. Last year, George Allen's gubernatorial campaign contacted 60,000 voters through its phone banks; this year, North's campaign claims it has contacted 500,000 households - which now will receive follow-up calls to make sure these conservative voters are acquainted with North's views and turn out to vote for him in November.
The voice of moderation
Cable News Network anchor Judy Woodruff will be the moderator of the Sept. 6 televised debate among the four Senate candidates - for now, the only one scheduled.
She also moderated the 1988 vice presidential debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen, the one made famous by Bentsen's declaration "I knew John Kennedy. John Kennedy was a friend of mine. And you're no John Kennedy."
Want to get involved?
Here's where to connect:
nCOLEMAN, 8500 Leesburg Pike, Suite 411, Vienna 22182. Phone: (703) 893-1994.
nNORTH, P.O. Box 10851, Chantilly 22021. Phone: (703) 802-6600.
nROBB, P.O. Box 1994, McLean 22101. Phone: (703) 790-9494.
nWILDER, P.O. Box 1515, Richmond 23211. Phone: (800) 999-5933.
Staff writer David M. Poole contributed information to this report.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB