THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 7, 1994 TAG: 9409070653
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA. LENGTH: Long : 137 lines
The tire irons came out Tuesday night as Virginia's four candidates for the U.S. Senate brutally assaulted each other on character issues in a televised debate.
Independent L. Douglas Wilder said incumbent Democrat Charles S. Robb has lost his credentials as a crime fighter because of his attendance at Virginia Beach parties in the early 1980s where cocaine was used.
``Chuck, you've been in the company of people and said limited drug use is all right,'' Wilder lectured in dramatic tones. ``You've been in the company of people who have been convicted and taken away. You were warned by your own attorney general to stay away. So don't tell me you're going to stand on your high horse now.''
Robb replied: ``I have never in my life seen or been in the company of anyone I have seen, or had reason to believe was, using drugs.''
Wilder, on the attack all night, also accused Republican Oliver L. North of being aware of a drug-smuggling operation from Central America to the United States in the mid-1980s when he was masterminding the Iran-Contra affair.
``How could you ride on a plane with drugs being on the plane?'' Wilder demanded.
An angered North replied that allegations that he allowed Contra arms suppliers to fly drugs into the United States have been fully investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and found groundless. ``The fact is, governor, only you and Lyndon LaRouche are raising the issue of drugs,'' North shot back. LaRouche is a political extremist from Loudoun County who was once jailed for raising money under false pretenses.
The character issue overwhelmed an early concentration on issues, especially military issues, in which Robb seemed especially calm and well-briefed. He spelled out reasons for intervening in Haiti and in North Korea, and repeatedly cataloged his votes on specific bills in Congress.
But as the debate veered into matters of personal morality, Robb seemed less sure and allowed himself to be interrupted. He kept his eyes almost exclusively on North - the only candidate not wearing a suit jacket. At times, Robb's back was turned on the independents.
Wilder and fellow independent J. Marshall Coleman hammered relentlessly at the flaws of the two party nominees. Wilder insisted repeatedly that no one had questioned his character. Coleman seemed calm and poised, compared to the more histrionic Wilder. North, gesturing with a blue pen, appeared casual but occasionally indignant. When his remark that his 76-year-old mother subsisted on a small pension drew a groan from the audience, North reminded the hecklers that they may face the same prospect one day and then continued without missing a beat.
In two previous debates, the candidates were loath to question the integrity of their opponents. But Tuesday's debate at Hampden-Sydney College clearly showed that the campaign has begun to boil and that the candidates believe character is the central issue.
``One of the difficulties of a four-way contest . . . is that an incumbent is allowing himself to be attacked by three different opponents,'' Robb said afterwards. ``It's more entertainment almost than debate, when you get so many people into it.''
Robb, Wilder and Coleman all accused North of subverting the will of Congress in the 1980s by supplying arms to Nicaraguan Contras fighting a communist dictatorship in that country. Congress, at the time, had approved an amendment banning U.S. aid to the insurgents. North sought to get around the ban by soliciting money from other countries and private individuals.
``In our system, the military is strictly under civilian control,'' Coleman said. ``It's not up to any individual to decide which laws he wants to obey and which laws he wants to ignore.''
Robb took issue with another aspect of the Iran-Contra diversion - the selling of arms to Iran for that nation's help in freeing American hostages held in the Middle East.
``It was the policy that we were not going to deal for hostages because it puts every other American at risk when we're ready to deal for hostages,'' he said.
North countered that he was following classified orders from former President Ronald Reagan. North added that he stands on higher moral ground than Robb, who admitted that he engaged in activities ``not appropriate for a married man'' in the early 1980s when he was governor.
``The guiding principle to everything I did was to save lives,'' North said. ``There is no guiding principle to what Sen. Robb did.''
Robb acknowledged that ``there are some dents in my armor,'' but said they never affected ``my public duties and my public responsibilities.''
Wilder, who has long feuded with Robb, did not accept his explanation. ``Chuck Robb said that if the people of Virginia felt he was not leveling with them, then he was unfit to be senator of Virginia,'' Wilder said. ``I don't believe he has leveled with them.''
Wilder also accused Robb of spending ``taxpayer dollars'' several years ago to send aides on several trips to try to dissuade people who socialized with Robb from discussing activities with reporters.
``That's just plain wrong,'' countered Robb. Records show that at least one of the trips was financed by Robb's campaign fund.
The biting rhetoric carried over to the candidates' discussion of issues. To cut spending, Robb said, ``I would take money away from widows and orphans.''
Robb's opponents ganged up on him for supporting President Clinton's 1993 tax increase and for saying he would support more levies if he became convinced that they were the only way to lower the national deficit.
``The problem is that Chuck Robb votes with Bill Clinton 94 percent of the time and Bill Clinton is almost always wrong,'' Coleman said.
Wilder chided Robb for also supporting a tax increase endorsed by former President George Bush, for once proposing a 50-cent increase in gasoline taxes and for being open-minded on increasing taxes on tobacco to fund a national health care plan. ``You're prepared to support any tax,'' Wilder said.
Robb replied that his opponents were endorsing cosmetic solutions to spending that would have no impact on the deficit. He noted that North, Wilder and Coleman declined to identify a single entitlement program they would cut.
``No one here wants to talk about any sacrifice that would cause anyone pain,'' Robb said. ``Everyone wants to talk about term limits, a balanced-budget amendment and a line-item veto, which is fine; but they're window dressing.''
Robb scoffed when North proposed curbing federal land purchases and congressional perks. ``We're talking about mere pennies,'' he said.
On military issues, Robb was more hawkish than his opponents. He said would favor a U.S. pre-emptive strike on North Korea if it became clear that the nation was continuing to develop nuclear weapons. Wilder said he would favor such action. Coleman and North did not give clear answers.
Of the candidates, only Robb said he would support a U.S.-led invasion of Haiti to overthrow a military junta and restore a democratically elected president to power. He said he would also consider intervention in Bosnia and was prepared to authorize a blockade of Cuba.
Wilder and Coleman said troops should not be deployed to Haiti and Bosnia because the nations do not pose a threat to U.S. security. North said the nation should be wary of deploying troops anywhere. ``This administration has cut our defenses so severely that we can no longer protect our vital interests around the world,'' he said. MEMO: Staff writer Margaret Edds contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb, center, defends his character from
attacks by Republican candidate Oliver L. North, right, and
independent J. Marshall Coleman during Tuesday night's debate at
Hampden-Sydney College. The four candidates focused on character
issues - and weren't afraid to let fly.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES DEBATE< by CNB