ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
U.S. Sen. John Warner's campaign sharpened its rhetoric Tuesday against Democrat Mark Warner's self-financed campaign, likening the cellular telephone mogul to the influence-peddling "robber barons" of the 19th century.
The attack came hours after the latest campaign finance reports confirmed that Mark Warner - thanks to his $100 million fortune - is outspending Republican John Warner, an 18-year incumbent.
"Mark Warner wants everyone to believe he is free and clear from special interests, when in fact he is the special interest," said Eric Peterson, spokesman for John Warner.
"Everything about his campaign and his statements has the air of the robber barons of the late 1800s, who bought and traded influence to promote [their] interests."
The Mark Warner campaign called the attack a transparent bid to divert attention from the fact that John Warner has taken more money from political action committees than nearly any other Senator.
"This from the third-ranking 'PAC-man' of the Senate? John Warner has been in Congress so long he probably remembers when the robber barons came into his office," said Eric Hoffman, spokesman for the Mark Warner campaign.
The "robber baron" imagery is the latest - and least subtle - effort by John Warner to suggest there is a dark side to Mark Warner's rags-to-riches story.
For months, the senator has urged reporters to dig into how Mark Warner became so rich so quickly in the 1980s, during the fledgling days of the cellular telephone. Last week, John Warner aired a TV commercial claiming Mark Warner made millions by trading on "political connections" and "big government loopholes."
Mark Warner denied the charges and his campaign released a statement suggesting that making money with a successful business compares favorably to how John Warner became a millionaire - by marrying into the Mellon banking family.
John Warner pulled the TV spot after he learned that it contained a doctored photograph.
In this latest attack, the John Warner campaign suggests that Mark Warner wants to serve in the Senate to promote interests dear to him and his friends in the telecommunications industry.
"Indeed, there is a special interest, and it's Mark Warner's commercial interests," Eric Peterson said.
Mark Warner called the charge "absurd."
Finance reports released Tuesday underscored the extent to which Mark Warner is self-financing his record-shattering TV campaign.
He has written checks totaling nearly $5.1 million of the $5.8 million his campaign raised through September.
"I have not had a single voter say to me, 'Mark, I wish you weren't spending so much of your own money' or say, 'I wish you would take more special interest money,'" he said.
Last week, John Warner said of self-funded campaigns: "It's not the Virginia way."
John Warner said his campaign finance reports show a greater cross-section of Virginians support his independent-minded Republican record.
Through September, he reported contributions of nearly $2.5 million - 25 percent from PACs, 64 percent from individual contributors. (Transfers from other GOP candidates and a $200,000 personal loan accounted for the balance of his funds.)
In a three-month period through September, John Warner demonstrated much deeper fund-raising roots in Virginia than Mark Warner.
John Warner raised $14,140 in the Roanoke region during that period, compared to only $3,550 by Mark Warner, according to a Roanoke Times analysis of the reports.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESSby CNB