THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140433
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Oliver L. North, touching down Monday in Norfolk, was upbeat despite his old boss having called him a liar Sunday night.
With North was Senate Minority Leader Robert Dole, who had been reluctant in the spring to endorse North in his race against independents J. Marshall Coleman and L. Douglas Wilder, and U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb.
Reporters for The Washington Post and The New York Times observed that the two were an uneasy alliance at the first of several prop-stops Monday around Virginia.
If so, by the time they got to Norfolk they were as close as two sky divers with but a single parachute.
If Dole ``picks up the phone and calls the junior senator of Virginia, my commitment is to be there for him on those issues that we really need done right here in Virginia,'' North declared, adding:
``The majority leader isn't going to have to wonder if this senator is going to stand with him. I'm going to be there for him just like I'm going to be there for you!''
Dole said: ``How would you like another vote for the balanced budget amendment? Right here! One more vote for the line-item veto? Right here! Another vote for real health care reform? Right here!
``You can put some of these races in the bank; I'm about ready to make a deposit for Virginia.''
Packed in an upstairs room at Piedmont Aviation, 60 or so fans were so euphoric that if North had asked every fifth one to jump out the window, they would have fought for the honor.
Bill Clinton, North said, ``had the audacity to say that the $6.75 billion tax increase equals a thousand dollars a year for every Virginian - every man, woman, child, orphan and widow!''
That allusion to Robb's utterance that he would take the food from the mouths of widows and orphans, if needful, to cut the deficit, drew clamorous applause.
Dole needs North's vote to try to win a majority in the Senate and to advance his quest for the presidency. North needs Dole's nod to boost his credibility, particularly after Sunday's cold-steel characterization of North by Robert McFarlane, former member of the National Security Council.
Of his former aide during the Iran-Contra affair, McFarlane said Sunday: ``He lies to me, to the Congress, to the president. This is not somebody you want in public life.''
Leaving in a hurry, North and Dole were pressing through the crowd when a reporter tapped North's shoulder. He turned with a smile that would beguile a crocodile.
The reporter asked if North intended to apologize for saying, erroneously, during the last debate that in Norfolk there were more students in parochial schools than there are in public schools.
``I`ve already asked about building some more parochial schools in Norfolk,'' North quipped.
That's all? asked the reporter.
``I misread a number,'' North said.
And pressed on. by CNB