ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 14, 1996 TAG: 9605140035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: PETER BAKER THE WASHINGTON POST
ISSUES? WHAT ISSUES? John Warner and Jim Miller are spending a lot of time arguing about whom Warner is dating and whether Miller avoided military service.
The first time John Warner ran for the U.S. Senate, he did so on the arm of his then-wife, Elizabeth Taylor, whose star power proved to be a useful magnet for attention even as it helped stereotype the candidate as a dilettante with Hollywood tastes.
Nearly two decades later, long after the two parted ways, Warner's social life has again become campaign fodder in Virginia, as his opponent mocks him for dating television interviewer Barbara Walters.
The derisive reference to their long-standing relationship came in a recent fund-raising letter sent out by Republican primary challenger Jim Miller as part of an effort to paint the incumbent as an out-of-touch elitist before the June 11 primary.
The dialogue in the race includes a chorus of sharp-edged personal attacks going far beyond the issues of ideology, party loyalty and experience that already divide Warner and Miller. The tone seems especially bitter for a pair of men who worked closely together a scant two years ago.
Miller not only has publicly questioned Warner's choice of dinner companions but also has suggested that the three-term senator is a regular on the Georgetown cocktail circuit and has chided him for maintaining an apartment for years at "the exclusive Watergate in Washington."
On the stump, Miller regularly uses words such as "arrogant," "uppercrust," and "monarchical" to describe his millionaire rival. "He's much more comfortable in the horse-country set, with people with great wealth and influence, than I am," the former budget director said in a recent interview.
Warner has fired back along personal lines. Among other things, he has accused Miller of ducking military service during the Vietnam War, questioned his Virginia roots because he has moved in and out of state, and ridiculed him for filing an extension for his federal income taxes this year.
The goal is clear: In an intraparty battle where differences of philosophy are narrower than in a general election, the candidates are trying to portray each other as someone voters would find personally distasteful.
"It's not really about an issue, it's about personalities," said Bob Denton, who teaches political communication at Virginia Tech. "Quite frankly, the more polarized the rhetoric, the more it motivates, and it becomes very ad hominem, very personal. ... It's easier to get someone to vote against someone than for someone. People complain about negative advertising and negative messages, but the fact of the matter is, it works."
Miller is casting the fight as a self-described redneck vs. an "establishment elitist," while Warner hopes to stoke feelings of patriotism and state pride in a place where both run strong.
But Barbara Walters, for one, said she isn't too thrilled about being dragged into the middle. She said she bristled when she read that a Miller fund-raising letter had cited her as proof that Warner "couldn't care less about Virginians."
"You are more likely," the letter stated, "to find John Warner dining at the elegant Palm Restaurant in Washington, D.C., with liberal TV 'journalist' Barbara Walters than testing out his hunting rifle at Clark Brothers shooting range in Warrenton!"
In a telephone interview from her New York office, Walters said she had never even heard of the Palm in Washington.
"I guess if you can't attack a man's record, and they can't attack his integrity, and they can't attack his honesty, then they have to attack his friends," she said. "And I think it's a pretty weak attack. If that's the worst they can say, that he and I have been friends for 25 years, then I think John Warner is in pretty good shape."
For his part, Warner insisted that he has no time for the active Washington social life that Miller depicts. "This is the only woman with whom I've had the opportunity to date for years," he said. "I just haven't had time to, nor would I want to. This is a wonderful relationship. That takes care of that side of my life. The rest of it is political."
Miller said the use of Walter's name was a mistake, maintaining that he thought he "had edited that out" of the letter. However, he doesn't apologize for the larger point, which is that "here's a person who after three terms is not particularly close to the people but, in fact, runs in his own circles."
On the other hand, Miller said Warner's attacks on his background have been scurrilous.
The senator has been highlighting his military service in contrast with Miller. As a teen-ager, Warner quit high school to join the Navy during World War II, and he later served with the Marines in Korea and was secretary of the Navy under President Nixon.
By comparison, a Warner flier distributed to veterans highlights Miller's student deferments in the 1960s. "He deliberately avoids serving his country," it said. "... How would you like to have him in the foxhole with you?"
Miller complained: "It's an absolute cheap shot. Half of the United States Senate never served in the military."
Miller said that as a youngster, he wanted to serve in the armed forces and even applied to the Air Force Academy, only to be turned down because of vision problems. He said that later, at the University of Georgia, he signed up for the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps but soon married and decided to withdraw from the program. As for the draft, he said, "I was never called up."
Warner also has implied that Miller is not much of a Virginian. On a flier comparing their records, under a category called "Taxpaying Virginia Resident," Miller was listed as "Little over 2,000 days."
Miller said that misrepresents his history in the state. He said that he received a doctorate from the University of Virginia and that he has owned property in the state for decades, although his primary residence was in the District of Columbia while he was serving in President Reagan's administration.
For all of the rancor, both men maintain that their attacks have not been personal and that they bear no ill will. "I don't have personal animosity towards him," Miller said of Warner. "He's just not my kind of guy."
On that one point, at least, they both agree.
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: logo. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESSby CNB