THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994 TAG: 9406150522
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
DATELINE: 940615 LENGTH: Medium
Oh, I don't know. There's something to be said for the role of bringing hilarity to a sore era.
{REST} And overnight the contest mocked by many has become an exciting race so devilishly handicapped that any one of the four candidates could win.
Each of the other 49 states would relish having a horde of media madcaps pouring across borders for the next five months.
Reporters eat and drink like foraging troops and, under deadlines, grab rides at any cost.
Equally voracious candidates will be spending tons of cash as will party megastars from afar.
To host a campaign of national note is like gaining an industry that specializes in throwing money around.
The fiscal benefits to Virginia from the five-month marathon will equal or exceed those of a weeklong national presidential convention for which cities bid.
Best of all is the spectacle of the four-way free-for-all. It is better than any thriller on television.
If you have trouble deciding for whom to vote, think of the candidates trying to figure out at whom to aim.
U.S. Sen. Charles Robb has had a long feud with former Gov. Doug Wilder. Former Attorney General Marshall Coleman has run against both Wilder and Robb; and all three of those foes would be loath to turn their backs on Oliver North, who is about as guileless as a barracuda.
Each of the four has a sizable core of constituents.
The Virginia Republican command, focusing fire Monday on Coleman, called him ``burned out.''
David Johnson, the GOP's executive director, said Coleman was a failure when he ran in 1981 and 1989 and would fail again this year.
In an eyelash loss to Wilder in 1989, Coleman drew more votes than any other GOP candidate in state history. Many voters may be of a mind to give him a third shot.
His re-entry was heralded by several Virginia henchmen of Ross Perot who are attempting to rally followers around Coleman.
Charismatic Oliver North's backers are as devout as the round heads who marched with Oliver Cromwell. He has a brimming war chest to boot.
Robb has an incumbent's advantages, including support of teachers who remember his boost for education while he was governor.
Many conservatives back Wilder for his management of the state budget in avoiding a tax increase.
And Wilder may launch a registration drive to build upon his already large, near solid support of black voters.
All four candidates are adroit, articulate, audacious.
What a joy to be alive and at work in the political cockpit of the Old Dominion during a four-way campaign that will be among the three or four most momentous in the state's history.
{KEYWORDS} ELECTION 1994 U.S. SENATE RACE
by CNB