Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504130020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
Speaking to about 400 Republicans at a gala fund-raising dinner organized by Warner, Bush endorsed the three-term incumbent as a "sound, sensible and conscientious conservative voice in the Senate, and he must be re-elected in my view."
Bush's appearance drew a storm of protest from leaders of the state GOP's conservative wing who are irate over Warner's refusal to support two recent party nominees and who have vowed to oppose the senator's efforts to win renomination next year.
About a dozen conservative activists, toting "Dump Warner" placards, protested outside the Marriott Hotel, the site of the dinner. And among the GOP leaders who refused to be associated with the event and unsuccessfully tried to dissuade Bush from coming was state party Chairman Patrick McSweeney.
"I felt it was a real kick in the teeth to find he was coming," McSweeney said.
Warner, 68, declined to comment on his differences with the party. In 1993 he refused to back GOP lieutenant governor nominee Michael Farris, a lawyer who is an evangelical Christian. Last year, he denounced U.S. Senate nominee Oliver North as a liar and strongly backed independent candidate Marshall Coleman.
He made a peace offering, however, pledging half of the proceeds from Bush's appearance to Republican candidates running for the General Assembly this fall. Sponsors said the $500-a-plate dinner raised about $200,000.
About half of the Republican members of the General Assembly attended the dinner. Several who said they have been upset by Warner's defections acknowledged that the money may go a long way in healing relationships. Republicans need gain only three seats in the House and Senate to control the legislature for the first time.
"I'm not happy at all about some of John Warner's decisions not to support some people who I thought would be great standardbearers for the party," said Del. Robert McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, who still is stopping short of endorsing the senator. "But I forgive him and am ready to move on."
The $100,000 or so that GOP candidates will reap from the event will be given to the General Assembly's Republican Caucus. That's 40 percent of the total amount the caucus raised in 1991, the last time all 140 legislative seats were up for grabs.
Warner has outraged conservative party leaders by invoking a little-known state law to insist on a primary election next spring. Many GOP honchos were hoping for a convention, where the wrath of several thousand Republican activists may be enough to deny Warner the nomination. There may be a legal challenge to the primary.
Warner has one announced Republican opponent so far - former federal budget director Jim Miller. McSweeney is considering running and Warner dared him to enter the fray.
"Nothing would please me more then to have Pat McSweeney enter the race, and I hereby challenge him tonight to get in the race," Warner said during a news conference before the dinner. "Let's have a good strong primary.
"I fully intend to support the nominee of the Republican nominee and I expect that will be me," he said.
Warner dismissed the small protest outside the hotel. "Do you have any idea how many Republicans there are in Virginia?" he asked. "My guess is several hundred thousand. Do you think a busload of people comment for all the Republicans in Virginia?"
Bush, a longtime friend of Warner's, declined to comment on the controversy. "I don't give interviews," he told reporters. "I used to do it. I don't have to do it anymore."
The former president, appearing tan and relaxed, is to speak at today's dedication of the expanded visitors center at the Yorktown battlefield.
Bush praised Warner for steadfastly supporting his decision to invade Iraq in 1991. "John realized that the best way to give peace a chance was for the U.S. Congress to give the president the authority to use whatever force was necessary," he said.
Warner distributed to his dinner guests copies of a Senate resolution he helped write authorizing the invasion.
Although Gov. George Allen also attended the dinner, he refrained from endorsing Warner or even mentioning him by name in his speech. Allen said he was present to show his support for Republican legislative candidates.
Many of Warner's supporters lauded him as a man who puts personal principles before matters of party loyalty. "I respect people who have the courage to express views and stick with them when the expedient thing would be to go along with the crowd," said Richard Sharp, chairman of Circuit City.
Earlier in the day, the senator was denounced as "an arrogant, slippery, out-of-touch character" by Peter Flaherty, chairman of the Conservative Campaign Fund in Fairfax, which is raising money to defeat Warner.
McSweeney said that Warner's defections have made it difficult to build the Republican Party. "It's impossible to build a strong party if our members are not prepared to back the outcome of our nominating process," he said.
Warner declined to reply. "These things are not worthy of a response," he said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB