THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190056
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: RICHMOND
``I am unbossed and unbought,'' Wilder declared to a mostly black audience of about 200 longtime supporters during an afternoon speech in a park just a few blocks from his boyhood home.
{REST} Wilder said incumbent Democrat Sen. Charles S. Robb - his arch political and personal enemy - ``has established no record of moving Virginia ahead to its rightful place of leadership'' during his first term.
``Life is too short to believe you have forever to do things. Six years is long enough to make your case, and the junior senator has not made his case.''
Wilder, who in 1989 became the nation's first elected black governor, is the fourth candidate to enter Virginia's extraordinary Senate race. In addition to Wilder and Robb, Oliver L. North is running as a Republican, and former state Attorney General J. Marshall Coleman is campaigning as an independent.
Wilder, 63, said his record of accomplishment is superior to those of his foes. During his four years as governor, he noted, no state tax rates were increased, and Virginia was twice cited as the best financially managed state in the nation. He also mentioned his successful effort to pass a law limiting handgun purchases to one a month.
He positioned himself clearly to the right of Robb in the Senate campaign, pledging a tightfisted attitude to spending and taxes. Wilder said he opposes mandatory funding for abortions in a national health insurance plan and mandates to small businesses to pay for insurance coverage.
He pledged ``unequivocal support'' for Virginia's right-to-work laws, which bar compulsory union membership.
Wilder also criticized Robb's support of allowing avowed homosexuals in the military, but did not set forth his own view.
The former governor declined to say whether he would caucus with Democrats if elected to the Senate. Wilder's entry in the race caps a bitter nine-year feud between himand Robb. Wilder long suspected that Robb tried to undermine his efforts to rise in the Democratic Party.
The animosity peaked in 1991 when Robb's staff leaked to reporters transcripts of an illegally taped telephone conversation between Wilder and a political supporter.
Although Wilder in the past has called attention to reports of Robb's alleged womanizing, he vowed not to personally attack his rival during the campaign.
``For those who look for the mud and dirt to fly, look elsewhere. . . . I will not stoop to further embarrass the people of the commonwealth. It is beneath me.''
Wilder did suggest that Robb may have tried to use contacts within the Clinton administration to secure a lofty appointment for Wilder that would keep him out of the Senate race.
A spokesman for Robb denied the accusation.
Wilder's announcement ended a yearlong, on-again-off-again flirtation with the Senate race. Last fall, he threatened to bolt the Democratic Party unless officials agreed to hold a primary election this year. After the party accommodated Wilder, he announced in January that he would not be a candidate.
His decision to re-emerge as an independent has drawn the ire of many Democratic leaders, who suggest that Wilder was afraid of losing to Robb in a primary.
Robb, in a prepared statement, promised a vigorous fight. ``In the past, Gov. Wilder has enjoyed the full support of the Democratic Party that has nominated him with enthusiasm and without opposition. I think he'll find that this is a very different ballgame.''
Wilder said he plans to raise about $2 million for his campaign - only a fraction of what North and Robb hope to raise. Polls suggest Wilder can count on at least 70 percent of the black vote - a source of strong support for Robb in the past. To win, Wilder will need to attract the votes of white independents and Democrats.
Wilder said many Virginians are fearful of North, the central figure in the Iran-Contra affair. He characterized Coleman - whom he defeated in the 1989 gubernatorial election - as an opportunist.
``The question is, which Marshall is running on what day? As Virginians know, he's pretty adept at changing his positions.''
{KEYWORDS} U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES INDEPENDENT PARTY
by CNB