THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409090585
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Forty-eight hours after Tuesday's 90-minute free-for-all at Hampden-Sydney College, the candidates for U.S. Senate are asking whether the first post-Labor Day debate might also be the last.
Democrat Charles S. Robb, bloodied on Tuesday by three-on-one attacks, says it might be time to make future debates one-on-one.
Republican Oliver L. North says he'll debate only if all four candidates are there.
And independents L. Douglas Wilder and J. Marshall Coleman say they'll debate anytime with anyone - even empty chairs.
The first casualty of the debate over debates was a forum scheduled for today by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
The event, which was expected to have attracted about 350 business and civic leaders, was put to rest Thursday morning after days of letters, phone calls and negotiations.
Robb sent regrets first. Then North said he wasn't coming without Robb. Then the chamber said it couldn't go forward with only two candidates when luncheon guests had been promised four. Finally, the entire event was bagged.
The cancellation, combined with the senator's remarks at a Richmond plant the morning after the debate, immediately prompted speculation that Robb might renege on other tentative debate plans.
``I'm not a masochist,'' Robb said in Richmond, noting that he's tentatively agreed to only one more four-way encounter and isn't going to be looking for any others.
The event referred to by Robb is a mid-October debate sponsored by the Capitol Correspondents' Association, a group of newspaper reporters in Richmond. However, the format and time of that debate have not been set, leaving wiggle room for any candidate who wanted to back out.
Robb termed four-way debates ``more entertainment than enlightenment. . . . It is important at this point to start narrowing the differences, and we ought to do it between those who are in a position to win the election,'' he said.
Robb suggested that candidates who ``haven't played in the regular season'' - by competing for their party nominations - shouldn't ``get to play in the World Series.''
North, who is expected to fare best in a four-way race, seemed unwilling to elevate either Robb or the independents by singling out debating partners.
``We're not going to do battle with two 10-percenters when our opponent is Chuck Robb,'' said Mark Merritt, North's spokesman, explaining why North nixed the Chamber of Commerce forum.
Nor is North willing to join Robb in one-on-one debates, however. The debates will be four-way or not at all if it's up to his candidate, said Merritt.
The independent campaigns responded angrily.
Robb is ``trying to make certain the people with the most money can control things,'' said Anson Franklin, Coleman's campaign manager.
And Wilder said Robb is acting in an ``almost elitist manner, an aristocratic fashion that he can jerk and pull the people around.''
Contrary to Robb's claim that the Hampden-Sydney debate was just entertainment, Wilder said, ``people are calling from everywhere to say, `I was undecided, now I'm for you.' It's enlightening.''
But while Wilder and Franklin both argued that Robb is ducking the Hampton Roads event, a chamber executive said the senator pulled out Tuesday before the Hampden-Sydney debate. In a personal telephone call Tuesday afternoon, Robb said he had a ``scheduling snafu'' involving a prior commitment in Roanoke, said Donna Girardot, executive director of the Chesapeake division of the Chamber.
The other candidates may have the impression that Robb didn't cancel until Wednesday because that's when she informed them of the change, she said. ``It was still my hope'' that the event could be resurrected, she said. ``We were still working some back channels.''
Meanwhile, Robb made a hastily arranged campaign stop Thursday at the Azalea Gardens Middle School to demand an apology from North for debate remarks concerning Norfolk public schools.
North said Tuesday that more Norfolk students are enrolled in parochial than in public schools ``because the unionized public schools are wrecking those kids' future.''
Flanked by Norfolk school officials and U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley, Robb said North had ``denigrated the public school system.''
Robb said North's math was in error ``by a factor of ten.'' Actually, approximately 35,000 students are enrolled in public school, while 3,500 are privately educated. Robb said, ``I happen to believe the Norfolk school system has performed admirably over a long period of time.'' He called North's remarks ``irresponsible in the extreme.''
Robb said North's misstatement was ``so important and has such consequences in terms of the morale of students and teachers who are beginning another school year at this time that it needs to be corrected on the record.''
Norfolk School Board Chairman Ulysses Turner echoed Robb's call for an apology, saying he was ``appalled at the reckless and capricious statement that Oliver North made regarding Norfolk Schools.''
Staff writer Keith Monroe contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE CANDIDATE ELECTION by CNB