ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 29, 1996 TAG: 9601290055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
Oliver North on Sunday appeared to depart from his official neutrality in this spring's Republican primary for the U.S. Senate just long enough to tacitly endorse Jim Miller.
``You can interpret it anyway you want to,'' North said with a huge grin moments after outlining in a morning speech to state Republican leaders 10 qualities he thinks the GOP nominee should possess.
North, the GOP's 1994 Senate nominee, never uttered the name of either of the two Republican candidates this year - Miller or three-term incumbent John Warner. But item after item on his list seemed to take not-too-subtle shots at Warner, who branded North a liar two years ago and strongly objected to his candidacy.
Miller also has had his differences with North. He ran an aggressive campaign against North for the 1994 Senate nomination, hammering North on character issues and once indirectly questioning his mental health.
After losing the nomination, however, Miller campaigned vigorously for North in the general election. Warner, on the other hand, outraged some Republicans by backing independent candidate Marshall Coleman.
Several GOP leaders said they interpreted North's Sunday speech as a signal to his backers that all is forgiven with Miller.
``There have been a lot of Ollie North supporters who wanted to know how he felt about Jim,'' said David Johnson, executive director of the state GOP. ``I think the message they were given today is that it's all right to vote for Jim.''
North broached this year's election by noting he had received a fund-raising form letter from Warner's campaign that asked him to fill and return a survey on the qualities that should be found in a Senator.
North then began to tick off a list that seemed to highlight many of the questions about loyalty, character and commitment to conservative causes that are dogging Warner this year. For example:
``I would like to see a senator who backs the grass-roots activists for every office for which we make a nomination,'' said North, who reminded GOP leaders that Warner also failed to back Mike Farris, the 1993 GOP nominee for lieutenant governor. North suggested the senator was responsible for Farris' defeat.
``I want a senator who will support earnest scholars like Robert Bork for the Supreme Court,'' North said. In 1987, Warner angered many conservatives by casting a decisive vote against Bork's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bork has endorsed Miller's candidacy.
North said he wanted a candidate who is ``unambiguous'' in his opposition to abortion. Warner usually has supported abortion rights; Miller has taken a hard line against terminating pregnancies.
``The senator ought to be someone who lives with the people of Virginia,'' North said, ``not in the ivory towers on the other side of the Potomac.'' Warner used to own a condominium at The Watergate in Washington, where he would stay when the Senate was in session.
A clearly elated Miller attended the breakfast and jotted down excerpts from the speech on scrap paper. ``It's as close to an endorsement as you can get,'' he said after North concluded.
Warner was not at the breakfast and could not be reached for comment.
North, who was a central figure in the Iran-Contra affair in the late 1980s, had maintained that he would not take sides in the GOP Senate nomination this year. He declined to say whether his speech Sunday reversed that policy.
However, North said he will not be visible on the campaign trail this spring. He said his time is consumed by his body-armor business, his nationally syndicated radio talk show and his writing of a humorous book on politics, ``With Friends Like These...''
North also said he is not helping either candidate raise money, although he acknowledged that Miller has rented his national fund-raising list.
A behind-the-scenes documentary about North's 1994 campaign, ``A Perfect Candidate,'' is to be released this spring. The co-producer, R.J. Cutler, made a similar film about President Clinton's campaign, ``The War Room.''
In a recent letter to people on the list, Miller said he was enclosing a copy of a handwritten note by North in late 1994 thanking him for his support in the general election.
North's speech came at the end of an annual three-day winter meeting of the state Republican Party. For the most part, the meeting was a chance for present and future GOP candidates to meet and court party activists.
Warner attended the event briefly Friday night.
The New York Times contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB