
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 3, 1994                   TAG: 9411040020
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BRITISH CONSIDER VA. SENATE RACE A JOLLY GOOD SHOW

The Virginia Senate race has continued to attract attention from overseas. Agence France-Presse recently reported on the contest, for example. But it is the British who have been all over it - perhaps because it reminds them of the royal family.

Ed Vulliamy in the Guardian (Oct. 23) decided that ``North is an anti-hero turned hero and such politicians are currently very much in vogue in America.'' He thinks that ``America, God, Guns and Guts strikes an enormous chord in the silent suburbs of Virginia.'' And he quoted the Rev. Jerry Falwell on North's chances: ``I think that if he doesn't shoot his wife or do some other dumb thing ... he's in.''

Rupert Cornwell, writing for London's The Independent (Oct. 21), had a trenchant take on the also-ran in this race. ``The worthy but uninspiring independent candidate, Marshall Coleman, runs a distant and largely ignored third with 16 percent - proof of how in politics, too, the only thing worse than bad publicity is no publicity at all.''

Maurice Weaver of the Daily Telegraph (Oct. 20) was even more blunt-spoken: ``Mr. North is labeled a near-traitorous liar for the 1987 testimony he gave to Congress. Mr. Robb is vilified as a tax-and-spend Lefty and as a party-going, cocaine-smoking philanderer for his admitted marital indiscretions. Mr. Coleman, a former state attorney general, is derided as a bothersome nonentity. The airwaves are blue, the platforms blood-red and it is Mr. North, self-cast as patriot, martyr and political outsider, who is increasingly favored to win.''

Weaver decided the race is a cliffhanger ``in which a single ill-considered word or thoughtless act could cost victory, and Mr. North is doing his best to dodge the media with its awkward questions.'' He also noted that North, after nine months of campaigning, ``is looking as boyish and relaxed as ever.'' Whereas, Robb ``has the tired aura of a loser `just going through the motions.'''

Kate Muir of The Times of London (Oct. 22) delivered another British take on the race with no punches pulled.

She described the ``Olliemobile'' entering Charlottesville, where locals ``are called to the town square to meet one of the more impressive political shysters of our time.'' Muir decided that ``it has quite slipped folks' minds that in the long-gone days of the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal, North admitted lying to Congress, expropriated money, shredded documents and helped Terry Waite become a hostage. ... Besides, the Nuremberg defense still plays down South.''

Virginians don't see North's flaws, Muir said, but rather ``a patriot, a family man. ... That image of soldierly dignity, all crisply creased uniform and Vietnam combat ribbons, has remained while the facts have withered away. North has become their prodigal son.''

Muir was also bemused by the embrace of North by a party whose members once dismissed him as "a fanatic," "a nut" and "a man of dubious ethics."

``North suddenly became a party mascot, the man to be seen with.''

In fact, ``these days, the arms-for-hostages scandal is but a stone that has rolled away. Lt. Col. North, a born-again Christian, has engineered his own resurrection, and his followers have come to worship.''

She was less than flattering about North's constituency. ``His visit certainly brings curious specimens out of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As North ignores a couple of hecklers, a shout comes from the crowd: `Go, Ollie! McCarthy didn't go far enough!'''

Muir also dissected North's positions on the issues. ``Put simply, Oliver North is running on the Happy Families platform. His manifesto is modest: anti-government, anti-tax, anti-red-tape and pro-family. He is Ross Perot without the statistics, coupled with the moral righteousness of evangelist Pat Robertson.''

Muir offered the observation that to North's supporters, ```family' is code for all that they hold dear apart from guns: the crusade against Social Security, unmarried mothers, abortion, sex education, political correctness and homosexuality.''

But she does not take North too seriously as a political thinker. ``In the end it does not matter why North became famous. What matters is fame itself. Once an American becomes a celebrity, he is a celebrity for life. Some suggest Virginians will vote for North for amusement's sake, out of a desire to liven up politics, in the way that a town in California recently elected a dog as mayor.''

But Muir thinks there is slightly more to it than that. ``With the Oprahfication of America, the daily fare of juicy confession and public redemption on all the chat shows, it should come as no surprise that 50 percent of Virginians consider North to be `a genuine American hero.'''

Compiled by Keith Monroe of Landmark News Service with assistance from researcher Peggy Earle

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB