ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996          TAG: 9609250029
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 

THE CITIZENS' AGENDA YOUR QUESTIONS SHAPE THE ISSUES.

Many Virginians say it's important that their U.S. senator be independent-minded. When Virginians were given a list of 13 leadership qualities they were seeking in a senator, they ranked party loyalty last. Only 35 percent said it's important that their senator ``support the policies and decisions of their political parties.'' Also, only 23 percent said a senator should ``always vote the wishes of most Virginians.'' Instead, 66 percent said a senator should ``decide on a case-by-case basis after working hard to understand the public's point of view and wrestling with his conscience.''

Today, Senate candidates John Warner and Mark Warner talk about the role that party and public opinion should play. See page C3.

Tomorrow: Consistency.

Source: Survey conducted for The Roanoke Times by The Harwood Group, June 1996. Margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.

LENGTH: Short :   41 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  1. ``One thing that I look for is how close they are to 
          the party line or whether or not they're an individual. I prefer an 
          individual. The individual is the important thing to me because 
          they're more accessible to my views; whether they're going to go 
          with the majority of letters and phone calls or whatever.'' - Mary 
          Louise Nackley, Roanoke. 2. ``A congressman told the story when one 
          day he got to an issue where his position and his party were
          diametrically opposed and he went to his mentor and said `What 
          should I do?' `Well, son, you're going to realize if you're going to
          get re-elected, there are times when you've got to rise above 
          principle and vote in the interest of party.''' - Ed Lane, Moneta. 
          color.
KEYWORDS: POLITICS