THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
When former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder dropped his independent bid for the Senate seat held by Democratic incumbent Charles Robb recently, the sense of relief in Robb's camp was almost palpable. Wilder's withdrawal would give Robb's campaign, stalled by his fumbling campaign and a couple of unimpressive debate performances, a strong ``bounce'' in the polls and in public momentum. Or at least so everyone seemed to think.
Only it hasn't worked out that way. A Mason-Dixon poll just published Tuesday, as well as other polls taken since Wilder's pullout, show Oliver North's numbers climbing steadily upward toward 40 percent support. Robb's, by contrast, appear stuck in the low 30s. J. Marshall Coleman seems to have benefitted from Wilder no longer being in the race; but at 18 percent, he does appear poised to overtake either of the two party nominees.
In part, the poll's results are a tribute to the way Doug Wilder was able to build support across party and racial lines during his career as lieutenant governor and as governor. Robb's supporters assumed that almost all of Wilder's backers consisted of liberal blacks, who would tend naturally to gravitate toward Robb in Wilder's absence.
But Wilder's reputation as a fiscally conservative governor with a penchant for positions that are unconventional for a black politician - opposing an invasion of Haiti, support for the death penalty, opposition to tax increases - won him considerable support among white voters. Many of those fiscally minded people are more in tune with North's agenda than Robb's.
And Robb's longstanding feud with Wilder undoubtedly alienated many black voters. The number of undecided black voters has now shot up from 13 percent to 34 percent. Coleman's support among blacks increased from 5 percent to 14 percent. Robb's percentage, among black voters, however, increased only four percentage points and even North's increased two percentage points.
And even when Robb appears to have a foolproof way of improving his standing, he misses the opportunity. He attacked North for supporting the flying of a Confederate flag over the last Confederate capital at Danville. When it was pointed out, however, that Robb did nothing about Confederate symbols when he was governor, he had no convincing reply.
But without question the biggest drag on Robb, aside from his personal and legal problems, is President Clinton, who did not carry Virginia in the 1992 election. Robb has voted in support of the president's proposals 94 percent of the time, a fact that North hammers home at every opportunity.
Robb nevertheless continues to tie himself to the White House, with the president scheduled to appear with him at a fund-raiser next Monday. Robb could still pull this one out; but if he does, it will be because he was able to swim tied to a very big anchor. by CNB