THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408190250
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: John Pruitt
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Mike Murphy, identified the other day by Staff Writer Dale Eisman of The Virginian-Pilot as Oliver North's television guru, promises ``wall to wall television'' from now until election day. I don't know which is more dreadful: that prospect, or the foul-play allegations, which are as predictable as the airing of each new piece of propaganda.
If we aren't sick already of the slugfest between Mr. North and incumbent Sen. Charles S. Robb, just give it time. We all may be ready to upchuck by November.
Yes, there are other candidates - former Gov. Douglas L. Wilder Jr., who was a Democratic governor; and J. Marshall Coleman, who was a Republican lieutenant governor. Both now are running as independents, and they don't have as much money as Messrs. North and Robb to tell us incessantly, in slick television commercials, that a vote for anyone else would be an endorsement of disaster.
Murphy may be gleeful at having enough money for this barrage, but most of us likely would rather be sentenced to watching ``infomercials'' by psychics pushing conversations on costly 900 telephone lines or hearing some well preserved muscle man tell us that his juice maker is our ticket to healthy living.
I've already overdosed on this summer's warm-and-fuzzy commercial depicting Oliver North as a Vietnam hero and model family man. By the way, it wouldn't matter if it were, instead, for Mr. Robb or either of the other candidates. Or, for that matter, one of those for-young-viewers commercials showing how a car reaches umpteen miles per hour in a few seconds, ignoring both safe driving and speed limits.
I realize Mr. North's warmly-lit commercial is the kind of soft introduction that television gurus prescribe, but enough is enough. Any Virginian - or for that matter, any American - who doesn't know who Mr. North is and at least, basically, what he stands for has been napping longer than Rip van Winkle.
Maybe there's an idea there: We could all just retreat to the Land of Nod every time our favorite programs are interrupted by these I'm-the-answer crusades. Based on Mr. Murphy's prediction, we may just catch up with ol' Rip, a few seconds at a time.
No sooner had Mr. North's latest commercial hit the air than Sen. Robb's office was on the defensive: It distorts the lawmaker's record on taxes and incorrectly characterizes him as a liberal.
Come now. What is a political campaign about if not distortion? Particularly this one, which offers the prospect of more mud than an Eastern Shore ditch at low tide.
And just how was Mr. North expected to portray his chief opponent? After all, Mr. North is a Republican, which nowadays means to many people God-fearing conservative aiming at less government and lower taxes; and Sen. Robb is a Democrat, a heathenistic liberal favoring more and more government funded by more and higher taxes.
The records may show differently, but since when did that matter in political campaigns? The best thing for staffers on both sides is to give voters credit for recognizing political advertisements for what they are. What responsible voter would let a slick television ad determine his vote, knowing full well that its only purpose is to make Candidate A look good and Candidate B look like a devil?
Mr. Murphy may hope that's true in many cases, but I prefer to believe voters ultimately will cast ballots based on true principles and what's best for Virginia and the nation, not who's got the most to spend on irritating commercials or even who's from what party. Otherwise, money just may prevail. Comment? Call the editor at 446-2494, any time. by CNB