Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DALE EISMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROSSLYN LENGTH: Medium
Toughening his rhetoric as his campaign begins what he acknowledged is a crucial phase, North said Robb is ``a fiscal liberal ... he's a defense liberal ... he seems to have forgotten what state he lives in.''
And as if to underscore his eagerness to mix it up with Robb, the Republican also raised, but then refused to elaborate on, questions about the senator's character. Pointing to his son, Stuart, 24, at the back of a room, North said his wife and children have never had reason to question his ''fidelity ... to our family.''
Robb has been dogged throughout his Senate term by questions about an alleged extramarital affair and attending parties with cocaine users in Virginia Beach during the early 1980s. The senator has denied any infidelity and insists he was never aware of any cocaine involvement among his friends.
``Oliver North is in no position to question anybody's character,'' Robb spokesman Bert Rohrer said. He accused the Republican of taking ``the low road,'' because ``he knows he can't beat Sen. Robb on his record.''
North's salvo followed by three days a blistering attack on him by Robb, who has stayed off the campaign trail through much of the summer, citing the press of Senate business.
Among other things, Robb recalled North's role in the Reagan administration's illegal arms-for-hostages dealings with Iran during the mid 1980s, attacked North's opposition to abortion rights and said the Republican supports tax-financed vouchers to help people send their children to private schools.
``This Marine knows better than to sit under incoming,'' North said Monday in explaining his response. ``You fire back.''
His tie loosened and the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up, North recited with new intensity his attacks on Robb for supporting tax increases advanced by President Clinton. Robb says the votes show his ``political courage,'' but North cracked that ``when you hear the words `political courage,' you know you want to hang on to your wallets.''
The Republican vowed to oppose any tax increases. ``I am not going to vote for any more taxes for the people of Virginia,'' he said.
North on Monday defended his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, saying he had been forced to choose ``between bad and worse'' in deciding to deceive a congressional panel that questioned him about the affair in 1986. He was found guilty of obstructing Congress, but an appeals court overturned the conviction on technical grounds.
As for abortion, North said it's Robb who is the extremist for supporting taxpayer-financed abortions through the Medicaid program. And he said Robb mischaracterized his position on private school aid; he supports tax credits for people who choose to put their children in private schools, North said.
North has worked since his nomination in June to polish his populist credentials, traveling the state more heavily than independents Douglas Wilder and Marshall Coleman and leaving Robb to tend to Senate business. Polls and interviews suggest the Republican has made good use of the time, catching or perhaps pulling ahead of Robb and creating a two-tiered race in which Coleman and Wilder are in danger of falling out of contention.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB