THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 3, 1994 TAG: 9406030645
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
DATELINE: 940603 LENGTH: Medium
If North wins the Republican nomination for Virginia's other Senate seat, Warner said that he would back in November an independent candidacy of Republican J. Marshall Coleman, a former Virginia attorney general.
{REST} And then, looking to 1996 when his own Senate seat will be at stake, Warner said he might run as an independent rather than let a GOP convention dominated by the extreme right deny him the party's nomination.
``I will find a way of getting my name in front of the voters,'' he said. ``I hope to do it through the party structure. But a small, tiny group is not going to stop me.''
The 4,500 delegates might be pardoned for looking cross-eyed between two elections, one this year and another two years hence.
As for this year's election, former Gov. Linwood Holton said Thursday that Warner's leadership in the campaign could be the ``spark that would coalesce the middle-of-the-roaders'' behind Coleman.
``The people of Virginia could well say, `He's the leader. Let's follow him!' '' Holton said in a phone interview. He praised Warner's courage in criticizing North.
From the day that North announced his bid, Warner has held him unfit to represent Virginia because of his conviction for lying to Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal. The conviction was later overturned.
Of Warner, Holton said, ``I never had any idea he would go as far as he has or be as strong. I'm tremendously proud of him.''
Several ``ifs'' stand between Coleman and his entry. If Miller, President Reagan's former budget chief, wins Saturday, that would remove the threat of a North candidacy and Coleman would fold.
Another ``if'' hinges on the June 14 Democratic primary in which U.S Sen. Charles Robb is opposed by three challengers, the strongest of whom appears to be veteran state Sen. Virgil Goode.
Robb is crippled by allegations of sexual escapades, made worse by his attempts to explain them. If Robb wins, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder plans to enter as an independent from the Democratic side.
That could set up a three-way race with Democrats Robb and Wilder and Republican North.
The split in the Democratic ranks would enhance North's chances of winning. That prospect would draw Coleman into what would become a four-way race.
GOP Chairman Patrick McSweeney declined comment on Warner's parting thunderbolts. And no wonder. Every time there's thunder from the far right against Warner, his popularity climbs in the polls. Maybe the GOP command has learned that Virginians cherish a measure of independence. by CNB