ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Elizabeth Dole canceled plans to visit Richmond and instead will campaign with her husband in California today, said Chris LaCivita, executive director of the Virginia Republican Party.
Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole's wife had been scheduled to appear at a rally on the Capitol steps.
``This is just one of those things that happens in campaigns,'' LaCivita said Monday.
He said the cancellation should not hurt Dole in Virginia, where the most recent statewide poll shows President Clinton with an apparent lead. Clinton made a campaign stop with Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner in Springfield on Sunday. About 9,000 people attended.
``I think she would've had a hard act to follow given the reception the president got in Springfield,'' state Democratic Party spokesman Bert Rohrer said.
University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato said the move indicates Dole's handlers ``have absolutely put all their marbles on California. They just have to hope normally Republican states will end up voting Republican.''
Virginia has not voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1964, when Lyndon Johnson carried the state.
``It also suggests what we've always seen in Virginia: Neither side is going to spend many resources here,'' Sabato said. ``If a Republican can't win here, he's losing in a landslide.''
LaCivita said Clinton has virtually ignored Virginia, dropping in for just one short visit, while Dole has been to Virginia a half-dozen times. Dole also is running television ads in the Roanoke and Norfolk areas and a phone bank out of state GOP headquarters, LaCivita said.
``There's a lot of activity,'' he said. ``Just because a visit is canceled doesn't mean it's a blow to the campaign.''
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB