THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9407010400
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: VIENNA, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Republican Sen. John Warner pledged Thursday to campaign ``side by side'' with independent Senate candidate Marshall Coleman, his handpicked alternative to GOP nominee Oliver North.
Warner and Coleman toured a Northern Virginia center that helps battered women and pledged their support for federal action to curb domestic violence.
``Sen. Warner and I agree our criminal justice system suffers from blind spot when it comes to domestic violence,'' Coleman said.
The visit came the same day as a televised hearing in the O.J. Simpson case, which has spotlighted domestic violence. Simpson is charged with killing his former wife, whom he admitted battering, and a friend of hers.
Warner, Virginia's senior GOP elected official, broke with his party to back Coleman's rogue candidacy.
``Marshall Coleman lived by the rules, lived by the law and will continue to do so,'' Warner said. ``That's why I'm proud to stand by him.''
Warner has refused to support North because of North's convictions of lying to Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal. The convictions were overturned on appeal. Warner encouraged Coleman to run as an independent ``because thousands of Virginians said they wanted a choice,'' Warner said Thursday.
Coleman, a former Republican state attorney general, said the Senate seat held by Democrat Charles S. Robb is too important to be ceded to a ``Clinton clone.''
``This seat was once held by Sen. Harry Byrd, a man of great integrity,'' Coleman said in a reference to Harry F. Byrd Jr., who quit the Democratic Party to win the seat as an independent.
None of the other three candidates in the state's four-way Senate race scheduled appearances Thursday.
``Robb is tending to Senate business today'' and will not campaign until the July 4 weekend, said spokesman Bert Rohrer.
Coleman and Warner continued the moderated tone that all the campaigns have adopted recently.
Warner, who has repeatedly called North unfit for office, did not mention the Iran-Contra figure's name Thursday. Coleman did not mention the names of any of his challengers.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES
CAMPAIGNING by CNB