THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 26, 1994 TAG: 9409260072
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Oliver L. North must have skipped class on the days they taught defensive war strategy at the U.S. Naval Academy.
North proved Friday that he knows only one response when attacked: counterattack.
All day, North and his aides anticipated that U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb would go on the offensive about North's remarks in support of displaying the Confederate flag.
When Robb lobbed his grenade, North was waiting with a howitzer.
When it was over, North had tried to turn the tables on Robb by weaving in attacks on Robb for his feud with fellow Democrat L. Douglas Wilder that led to a federal wiretap investigation and for Robb's off-hours socializing at Virginia Beach during his term as governor in the mid-1980s.
North seemed pleased with his performance as he left his press conference.
``It's offense; it's all offense,'' he said. ``The best defense is a good offense.''
Remember Fortis Morse?
He was the University of Virginia law student last seen in May suing the Republican Party of Virginia and North in protest of a $45 fee to the state GOP convention.
Morse resurfaced earlier this month at a Charlottesville rally where he presented North with a ``Wahoo For North'' bumper sticker from the U.Va. College Republicans.
Morse, a second-year law student from Giles County, said his appearance with North should erase any impression that the lawsuit was nothing more than a last-ditch effort to deny North the GOP nomination.
``We always had deeper convictions than that,'' he said.
Morse is still pursuing his legal challenge to the GOP convention fee on the grounds that it amounts to an unconstitutional poll tax that limits participation.
``I think we as a party can do better if we're open and we're honest and we're inclusive.''
Democrats are drawing inspiration from the new Robb for Senate headquarters in Richmond.
``Good karma,'' Abbi Easter, a Robb campaign staffer, said as she walked through the new digs on North Thompson Street.
Democrats said the good feeling stems from the fact that James Carville, the mastermind of President Clinton's 1992 victory, worked in the same office when he ran Democrat Richard Davis' Senate campaign in 1982.
Easter said that the ghost of Carville is enough for her to overlook the imitation wood paneling and worn carpet.
``James Carville is good energy,'' she said.
KEYWORDS: U.S SENATE RACE CANDIDATE by CNB