Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410070028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Sen. Charles Robb is a faithful champion of abortion rights, said Sen. Barbara Boxer of California.
``There are three positions in this race, and each candidate has one,'' Boxer said. ``We've got Chuck Robb, the pro-choice candidate; Oliver North, the anti-choice candidate; and Marshall Coleman, the multiple choice candidate.''
Coleman, an independent, once held a hardline anti-abortion stance. He now says he is personally opposed to abortion but does not believe government ought to interfere in the issue.
In Arlington, Boxer went on to rebuke North for his role in Iran-Contra. Instead of arguing over whether North lied to Congress, voters should remember what he actually did when as a White House aide he helped arrange arms sales to Iran, Boxer said.
``My lowest, darkest, blackest day as an American is when I learned that a Marine colonel who swore to uphold the Constitution sold arms to the most terrorist nation on Earth. That person cannot become a United States senator,'' she said.
Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois delivered an emotional appeal to reject the division she said North represents.
``I look at what's happening in Virginia, and it is not just a race between Chuck Robb and Oliver North,'' she said. ``It is a race between truth and a lie, a race between light and the darkness, between the future and the past,'' she said.
Until this week, abortion took a back seat to character, crime and taxes as the issues most discussed by the candidates.
An exchange between North and high school students Monday marked the issue's real debut in the race, when North contrasted his anti-abortion position with Robb's. North said Robb supports abortion in the final month of pregnancy, an assertion Robb denied later that day.
On Thursday, the National Right to Life Committee weighed in, claiming Robb's support for a proposed abortion rights law amounted to support for late-term abortions.
The Freedom of Choice Act, which never became law, does not explicitly bar such abortions, said Carol Long, the anti-abortion group's political director. Robb was a co-sponsor of the legislation last year.
``I have never been pro-abortion, but I am pro-choice,'' Robb said Thursday, adding he opposes abortions after the sixth month of pregnancy.
``We're here to support a real Marine, and the Democratic women have brought their own platoon to back him up,'' Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland shouted to a crowd of about 100 at the Arlington County courthouse. ``We're here to support Chuck Robb, because he's pro-family, pro-choice and pro-change.''
``When we go out to fight for choice, for families ... we need some guys,'' said Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington. ``One of the guys we rely on is Chuck Robb.''
Sen. Dianne Feinstein did not attend the rally so she could prepare for a televised debate with Republican Michael Huffington in the California Senate race, Boxer said.
by CNB