Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER NOTE: lede
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The two candidates missed each other on the Roanoke City Market by just three hours; both agreed that when the votes are finally tallied tonight, the election's outcome could be close, as well.
"My prediction is the margin will be 2,000 votes and it won't be decided until 12:30 a.m.," Lt. Gov. Don Beyer said as he joined fellow Democrats on their final swing across the state.
"It's been a long time since we've had one this close," agreed Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, as he helped North hunt for votes.
Two competing rallies downtown produced these themes: Democrats claim there's a late-rising tide coming in for Robb, as evidenced in a series of polls last week that gave him a lead of anywhere from one to eight percentage points. Republicans counter that they've blunted whatever momentum Robb had and they'll pull out a win with their superior get-out-the-vote organization.
In the dying hours of the campaign, one issue still echoed above the din: Social Security.
North hit the airwaves over the weekend with a new television commercial attacking Robb for voting to tax some Social Security benefits; Robb's campaign took that as evidence North wounded himself when he suggested Social Security become voluntary for "the next generation."
Both candidates found themselves Monday defending their positions on Social Security - and attacking the other side.
In a way, their last appearances in the Roanoke Valley mirrored their entire campaigns this year. A gray-pinstriped Robb appeared, flanked by Democratic Party regulars; the plaid-shirted North jumped onto a bench and gave an impromptu speech to the lunchtime crowd, then spent most of his time signing autographs.
Robb, fresh from the Democrats' traditional campaign-closing rallies in the coalfields, went first. He urged some 150 Democrats gathered for breakfast in the Roanoke City Market Building's food court to ignore the favorable polls and - in a phrase stated again and again at both rallies - "don't take anything for granted."
Robb, tacitly acknowledging the anti-Washington tenor of the electorate this season, asked voters not to reflexively cast a ballot "to send a message" as many Republicans are urging.
"It's real easy to send a message," Robb said, "but we don't want to send the kind of message where you get a bill and have to pay for it for the next six years."
Robb, in a nod toward the state's sense of honor, also reminded Virginians that the eyes of the nation were upon the Old Dominion. "The country is watching Virginia again this year," he said. "We are going to say something important about ourselves, our values."
Unlike their mood a few weeks ago, Democrats were feeling optimistic. Stockbroker Ed Nicholson cited the sentiments in his own downtown kaffee klatch. "A month ago at coffee, no one picked Robb to win. Friday, eight of 10 did."
"There's been a change," said businessman Bittle Porterfield. What's caused it? "I think there's a collective wisdom in Virginia - and Social Security. That's a big issue."
Democratic Party strategists traveling with Robb agreed that North's comments on Social Security helped scramble the campaign's dynamics of the past two weeks. "It's proof that Ollie North, when not carefully watched, does something weird," said party spokeswoman Gail Nardi. "I think it has crystallized people's impressions about him. It's the difference between being a responsible U.S. senator and someone who can't be trusted."
That was at breakfast.
At lunchtime, it was North's turn. A crowd of more than 100 was waiting for him, and, as he spoke, passers-by joined in, swelling the audience to double or triple that.
North cautioned supporters that he expects the initial returns tonight to show him behind. "The early returns are going to come from Northern Virginia and, in the Clinton White House, they're going to be rubbing their hands in glee," he said.
"But then about 10 o'clock, the 6th District will come in. And then the 7th, and the 9th, and the 5th and the 4th," he said, ticking off the rural congressional districts where he is expected to pile up his biggest margins.
"By around midnight, in the White House, they're going to say, ''Oh my God, we're losing control of the Senate.'''
Republicans acknowledged that Robb has been gaining ground of late. "I think there was some tightening up about a week ago," Goodlatte said. "I attribute it to false charges that Ollie North suddenly has a plan to make Social Security voluntary. Once he got out there and answered that, he slowed it down."
Mark Merritt, North's deputy campaign manager, said that no matter who got the better of the Social Security issue early, it's North who'll win the debate in the end. He credits a hard-hitting television ad that went up over the weekend, calling attention to Robb's support of means-testing.
"I think we'll make some last-minute hay on it," Merritt said.
North's downtown rally also drew a heckler. Rand Dotson, a clerk at one of the market shops, waded into the crowd, shouting "You're a liar! Convicted felons belong in jail, not Congress."
Later, Dotson said he was involved in a confrontation with North's caravan as it left downtown. Dotson said he waved a homemade sign in front of North's car and one of the riders pulled it inside.
Independent candidate Marshall Coleman refused to concede anything. He said distaste for the party nominees would give him a stunning upset, and that voters would not accept warnings that a vote for Coleman was a vote wasted.
``The public is going to operate on the basis of their conscience,'' Coleman said at a news conference at the state Capitol.
Coleman and his No. 1 supporter, GOP Sen. John Warner, were harangued by a group of North opponents Monday afternoon during a hand-shaking stop at a Northern Virginia subway terminal.
``A vote for Coleman is a vote for North,'' members of the anti-North group Clean Up Congress chanted, drowning out Coleman's greeting at the Vienna Metro station.
``They are seeing things in their numbers that make them deeply disturbed and unhappy,'' Coleman said of his detractors.
The Associated Press provided additional information for this story.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB