Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 4, 1994 TAG: 9410050032
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``Well, I guess I'm going to vote for Oliver North,'' these people say thoughtfully, yet hesitantly. ``I'd really like to vote for Marshall Coleman, but ... ''
See, there's the problem.
No one we've spoken with can quite put a finger on what the "but" is.
Until one person finally described Coleman as ``too vanilla.''
Vanilla is a flavor. Or it can describe something bland. Plain. Basic. Even boring.
On the Virginia political scandal scale, describing Coleman as vanilla is certainly appropriate.
But let's consider Coleman and his rivals as flavors.
We asked Jeff Trower, regional marketing manager for Baskin-Robbins in Pennsylvania, to try to describe our three senatorial candidates with one of their 31 flavors.
(By the way, Baskin-Robbins really offers 700 flavors. They just rotate 31 of them around to each of their franchises.)
``I wish you'd asked about Jack Kemp,'' lamented Jeff, who felt put on the spot to be witty and quotable, but did just fine. ``'Cause we do have a flavor named Quarterback Crunch.''
Yeah, Jeff, but Kemp ain't running for the Senate here, so what about our candidates?
Consulting his sheet of 700 flavors, Jeff came up with one named For Heaven's Cake for North.
And for Charles Robb?
What else but New York Cheesecake?
``You could actually use Rocky Road to describe either of them, too,'' added Jeff.
But what about Coleman?
``Who?''
Now here's the problem.
Or is it a problem?
Is it a handicap to be vanilla?
``Not the way I see it,'' said Jeff. ``After all, vanilla is the No.1-selling flavor of ice cream in the United States, and has been forever. Vanilla is a winner.''
According to some of Virginia's political experts, Coleman's vanilla-ness actually might be a plus at this point in the race.
``For Coleman, being vanilla right now is definitely an asset,'' said Mark Rozell of Mary Washington College. ``There is a clear and present possibility that if North and Robb persist in these attacks on character issues, they'll just wind up proving that they're right about each other.
``Besides, what's the worst thing you can say about Coleman?'' asked Rozell. ``That he's lost a couple of elections?''
For example, Rozell pointed out that Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun won her state's primary race by sitting back and refusing to get involved in the character assassination between the other two candidates.
``It's largely due to that - her vanilla-ness, if you will - that helped her get the Democratic nomination and eventually earned her a seat in the Senate.''
It was an example of a candidate running a very distant third - much like Coleman - capitalizing on the negative politics of her rivals and swiftly rising as a front-runner for deciding not to play that game.
Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia thinks Coleman's ``vanilla agenda'' is a long shot but could pay off in the end.
``His biggest problem is that he is perceived as someone who just plain can't win,'' Sabato said. ``And people don't want to throw away votes.''
Yet, if North's and Robb's popularity plummet near the election, maybe vanilla won't look so bad to voters.
We asked all three candidates what their favorite ice cream flavors are.
From North's office: ``I've never ever seen him eat ice cream.''
From Robb's: ``He said to tell you that he likes Frostys.''
Frostys?
(Those are the frozen, soft-serve desserts sold by Wendy's. They aren't even ice cream.)
And what about Mr. Vanilla himself, Marshall Coleman? ``Chocolate.''
Chocolate isn't such a bad thing to be.
According to Jeff back at Baskin-Robbins, ``It is the second most-popular flavor of ice cream.''
See? When it comes to ice cream, Coleman is already making big moves in the polls.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB