ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611050006
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: VOTER'S GUIDE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
RICK BOUCHER
Party: Democrat
Residence: Abingdon
Occupation: Lawyer
Background: Elected to Congress in 1982
Campaign office: (540) 628-7197
PATRICK MULDOON
Party: Republican
Residence: Pembroke
Occupation: Law-school student
Background: First try for elected office
Campaign office: (540) 626-3373
TOM ROBERTS
Party: Virginia Independent/Reform Party
Residence: Blacksburg
Occupation: Engineer
Background: First try for elected office
Campaign office: (540) 552-9024
THE three-way congressional campaign in Southwest Virginia's sprawling 9th District has been based on issues and not personalities.
Rep. Rick Boucher, the Abingdon Democrat who has held the seat for nearly 14 years, has mostly limited his campaign to non-campaign appearances - announcements of federal assistance for a business incubator in the New River Valley, a meeting of the commission he formed to set an agenda for the region's future, the launching of another electronic village in Smyth County, improvements at Breaks Interstate Park in the coalfields, to hit a few.
Republican challenger Patrick Muldoon, a first-year law student from Giles County who has worked in a variety of other fields, says such federal spending is precisely the trouble with Boucher. Muldoon supports the GOP call for less federal money to be spent on such projects, saying more of the money should stay in the district where it could be used without being filtered through government, which keeps much of it in Washington, D.C.
Boucher's argument is that these are investments that will reap more in revenue than the federal government sows. Besides disagreeing on that issue, Muldoon also endorses Republican positions against abortion, for a flag-protection constitutional amendment, and for fewer business restrictions at the federal level.
The most focused campaign belongs to Tom Roberts, a Blacksburg engineer who represents the Virginia Independent/Reform Party. His issues are fiscal and moral integrity.
Roberts admits his candidacy is a long shot, but argues that future generations will bear the brunt of today's federal spending if the federal debt is not brought under control. His other major argument is for campaign reform to reduce the influence of special-interest groups on legislators; he is limiting donations to his own campaign to $100.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 3 headshots. color. Graphic: Map. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESSby CNB