Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
With 99 percent of the state precincts reporting, Robb was polling 46 percent of the vote; North 43 percent; and Independent Marshall Coleman, 11 percent.
Robb's victory stood out on a day in which Democrats nationwide lost control of the Senate and appeared on the verge of losing a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. Perhaps more than any Republican, North embodied the anti-Washington sentiment that carried the day. But exit polls suggested that his populist appeal was drowned out by voters' concerns about his honesty.
A jubilant Robb, who had characterized North during the brutal campaign as a right-wing extremist, said in his victory speech: ``We have sent a very important message to the nation: Virginia will continue to be inclusive rather than exclusive, that Virginia will continue to be tolerant rather than intolerant.''
Robb's oldest daughter, 26-year-old Lucinda, said she hoped the victory would bring an end to controversy over her father's personal life. ``If it doesn't, you're going to have to hear a lot more from me,'' she said. ``He's a great father, and you can underline that five times.''
North, accompanied by his wife, Betsy, and four children, was emotional as he conceded defeat in Richmond.
``They will say that the hurt you and I now feel could have been avoided had we not joined this battle ... [but] to not have tried would mean some afternoon in the autumn of my years I would have sat on a rocker on my porch and wondered, 'Could I have made a difference?''' he told supporters.
``The real consequence of this campaign is not just the results of today's ballot,'' North said. ``Your eagerness to bring about real change is not going to fade from the national political landscape.''
Turnout was high with almost two-thirds of the state's registered voters casting ballots, more than 10 percent above a typical election turnout.
Robb won by impressive margins in the state's urban crescent arching from Northern Virginia through Hampton Roads, where 70 percent of the state's population resides.
North carried most of Western Virginia, but not by the margins he expected. In the Roanoke region, Robb carried only Roanoke, Montgomery County and Radford.
From the start, the race was about the character of the candidates. North faced questions about his honesty stemming from the Iran-Contra affair. Robb was under heavy fire over allegations of womanizing and partying when he was governor from 1982 to 1986.
In the end, however, voters overwhelmingly decided that Robb was more trustworthy. Of those who said honesty and ethics were the most important issue in the race, Robb outpolled North 61 percent to 19 percent, according to an exit poll by Cable News Network.
Sixty percent of those who cast ballots told exit pollsters that North's conduct in the Iran-Contra affair was an important factor in their vote. In contrast, only 40 percent said they considered Robb's personal conduct to be an important issue.
``When all was said and done, Iran-Contra was simply too big a weight around Ollie's neck,'' said Tom Morris, a political scientist who is president of Emory & Henry College.
North's efforts to link Robb to Clinton - North constantly stressed that the Democrat had supported the president in 94 percent of his Senate votes last year - did not hit home with the electorate.
Forty-seven percent of the voters who participated in an exit poll conducted by Election News Service said their vote ``had nothing to do with Bill Clinton.''
Of those who said the president was a factor in their vote, Clinton proved to be almost a wash. Twenty-two percent said they voted in support of the president while 29 percent said they voted against him.
A decisive factor in Robb's victory was his capture of 86 percent of the vote of black Virginians. His support from black voters was galvanized by a late endorsement from former Gov. Douglas Wilder.
Wilder had long feuded with Robb and, at one point, entered the Senate race as an independent because he said Robb was ``unfit for office.'' Tuesday, Wilder refused to take credit for Robb's victory.
``I'm not interested in who gets credit,'' he said. ``It was president Dwight Eisenhower who said you can get just about anything done if you don't care who gets credit for it.''
Wilder said state Republican Chairman Patrick McSweeney galvanized the black vote last month when he said that the GOP did not find it ``cost effective'' to court black voters. ``I think Pat McSweeney, in saying that, enraged a lot of people,'' Wilder said.
Among white voters, North outpolled Robb by a 5-to-4 ratio, according to the exit poll.
Coleman, who offered himself as an untarnished alternative to the major party candidates, apparently had little effect on the race. He carried no regions of the state and exit polls suggested he drew votes away equally from North and Robb.
Coleman's campaign was strongly backed by Virginia's other senator, Republican John Warner, who denounced North as a liar and a felon. Warner drew the wrath of Republican leaders and put his career on the line by refusing to support his party's nominee. It is an open question whether Republicans will be willing to nominate Warner should he seek re-election in 1994.
Warner, who was frequently critical of the religious right that dominates the state GOP, offered an olive branch to Republicans on Tuesday night.
``The party is still a very strong party in Virginia,'' he said. ``But what this tells us ... is that the party better grow and be very careful and consider there are other perspectives, there are other voices.
``I'm not calling for heads to roll in the party,'' he added. ``I'm asking for minds to open up.''
Gov. George Allen told reporters that the outcome is ``no repudiation of Jeffersonian conservative principles.'' The problem, Allen said, was that the campaign focused on ``personalities and character assassination.'' He said the Social Security issue had been particularly damaging, and that Robb's portrayal of North as being willing to cut the program was a ``scurrilous deception.''
North's honesty was questioned by many of his former White House colleagues, including former President Ronald Reagan, former first lady Nancy Reagan and former National Security Chairman Robert McFarlane. Retired military leaders such as Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of operation Desert Storm, also questioned North's character.
Despite the problems, North proved to a riveting speaker and powerful fund-raiser. Through a direct mail enterprise, North raised $19 million in contributions - a record for a U.S. Senate race. Most of the money came from outside Virginia.
Rather than explain his past, North tried to turn the race into a referendum on the policies of President Clinton. North assailed Robb for voting in support of Clinton 94 percent of the time in 1993 - including for a $250 billion tax increase, reduction of defense funds and a plan to allow avowed homosexuals in the military.
North's pledge to reduce taxes and increase military spending helped him consolidate the Republican vote. His promise to lead a cultural war in a battle for family values, limited government, and prayer in school reached out to many working class families who felt disaffected by politics.
Unlike many Democrats, Robb did not try to distance himself from Clinton. The president attended three fund-raisers for Robb, helping the senator collect more than $5 million for his campaign.
Robb's campaign got off to a slow start. While North was making headlines and consolidating conservative support this summer and early fall, Robb remained ensconced in the Senate, unable to gain ground in polls.
Keywords:
ELECTION
Memo: ***CORRECTION***