Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410030061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
"I think if he doesn't shoot his wife or do some other dumb thing between now and November, he's in," Falwell said after a fund-raising luncheon where he sat at the front table with North and former Vice President Dan Quayle.
Quayle, the third potential GOP presidential contender who has paid homage to the former Iran-Contra figure in the past two months, was equally enthusiastic about North's chances of unseating Democratic Sen. Charles Robb.
"Ollie, I've been around a lot of campaigns; and I can feel a winning campaign," Quayle said.
More than 200 Republicans, many of whom paid $500 apiece to pose for a snapshot with Quayle and North, crammed the ballroom of the Oakwood Country Club to cheer and laugh as North turned "Clinton" into a four-letter word.
"We have a choice this year between a Clinton senator and a Virginia senator, and I am going to be a Virginia senator," said North, who ascribed all sorts of bad things - burdensome taxes, unsafe streets and moral decay - to the 22-month term of President Clinton.
Citing Robb's record of backing Clinton 95 percent of the time last year, North called Robb a "steadfast, stalwart, lock-step friend" of Clinton who has invited the president to a fund-raising dinner Monday in Northern Virginia.
"Chuck Robb has abandoned the hard-working, God-fearing, law-abiding citizens of the commonwealth of Virginia and has gone to work for Bill Clinton. And I am going to remind the people of Virginia of that at every single turn."
Susan Platt, Robb's campaign manager, said Virginians will not be fooled by North's rhetoric.
"This is just another Oliver twist," she said. "Unlike Ollie North, Chuck Robb has a long record of helping the people of Virginia on matters that affect their daily lives, be it jobs, education, crime or keeping government out of a woman's right to choose."
In introducing North, Lynchburg Mayor Jim Whittaker said the "radical" label fits North in terms of not wanting to be part of the status quo in Washington.
"I'm glad to know that when Ollie gets to Washington, he is not going to fit in," Whittaker said. "We don't want him to fit in. We want him to do what's best for Virginia and our country."
A mini cultural war broke out on the country club's manicured grounds when North arrived. On one side were a couple of dozen clean-cut College Republicans; on the other was a smaller band of anti-North college students led by a Randolph-Macon Woman's College student with a silver stud in her pierced nose. "A lot of people are interested in running a smear campaign against Ollie North," said Scott Pinsker, the leader of James Madison University College Republicans, who was armed with a campaign-issue North sign. "We're not going to let that happen."
Candice Mickelson, a Randolph-Macon sophomore from Baltimore toting a homemade "Ollie Lies" sign, said the election of North - who was convicted and later cleared of three felonies stemming from Iran-Contra - would show that society does not respect the rule of law. "If I were a serial killer, my chances of winning election would be 10-fold [better] if Oliver North gets in," Mickelson said.
When North pulled into the driveway, the College Republicans let loose a baritone cheer: "Ollie! Ollie! Ollie!" North protesters countered with an alto chant: "We don't vote for felons."
Keywords:
POLITICS
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.