Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 17, 1994 TAG: 9410170089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But while North asserts he would win a debate, North's aides aren't biting at the incumbent's challenge.
``We aren't going to debate Chuck Robb just to save his sorry and flailing campaign,'' North spokesman Mark Merritt said Saturday.
Robb, a first-term senator who previously served as Virginia governor, said for the first time in his political career he cannot be certain he will win when voters go to the polls Nov. 8.
``I do know that if I can get head-to-head in any kind of an objective review, there is no question that I would win fairly decisively,'' Robb said while campaigning Saturday in Norfolk. ``If I can't get that kind of a comparison, it'll be tough.''
Recent independent polls show Robb and North in a statistical tie, with independent Marshall Coleman a distant third. Both Robb and North each claim to have the edge, citing their own internal polls.
``We are riding a crest now, but I don't think it will last,'' Robb said. ``It will be very close.''
Robb said he has been foiled in his attempts to meet North in person, and the GOP nominee is hiding behind his campaign war chest.
Financial reports filed Friday show North is waging one of the most expensive Senate campaigns ever. North's campaign raised about $15 million through the end of September, according to the filings. Republican Jesse Helms of North Carolina holds the single-candidate spending record with about $17 million in 1990.
The Washington Times on Sunday quoted North as saying he's confident he would win a debate because Robb's record of voting with President Clinton 94 percent of the time makes him too liberal for voters.
``On the issues, Chuck Robb is dead meat,'' he said.
Robb said he's throwing down the gauntlet in the campaign's final three weeks.
``I've got a core that is a whole lot harder than my gentle disposition might indicate,'' he said. ``And I don't think that anybody thinks that I am going to be walked over.''
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB