THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 3, 1994 TAG: 9410030059
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Oliver L. North's campaign for the U.S. Senate is going so well that he has had to stretch the facts to maintain a ``do-or-die'' urgency with direct-mail contributors across the nation.
In one direct-mail appeal, the Republican pleaded for ``emergency'' donations to counter what he described as ``my opponent Chuck Robb's multimllion smear campaign (that) is moving into high gear - and having a negative impact on my poll numbers.''
But the letter was dated Sept. 9, two weeks before incumbent U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb had run a single television commercial and at a time when North was saying publicly that his own internal polls showed him pulling ahead.
``He's lied to Ronald Reagan. . . and now he's lying to the supporters who are paying his bills,'' said Bert Rohrer, Robb's campaign spokesman.
North stands by the fund-raising letter, saying that it was written at a time when internal polls showed him taking a temporary dip after Robb raised the Iran-Contra issue for the first time at an Aug. 26 news conference.
``As soon as he came down out of his ivory tower at the end of August, Chuck Robb went out and personally attacked me,'' North said.
North said the reference to ``Robb's multimillion smear campaign'' was simply a reference to the money the incumbent Democrat had raised from political action committees and ``the most radical elements of society.''
Larry Sabato, a political analyst from the University of Virginia, called the North letter ``standard'' for direct-mail fund-raising genre that relies upon ``phony'' emotionalism and personal appeals.
``What's really disturbing is it's just standard operating procedure - on the left, right and middle of the political spectrum,'' Sabato said. ``Most people throw these things away. For those who open the letters up, you have to grab them by the lapels and not let go of them emotionally until the end, until they reach for their checkbooks.
``Direct mail is a phony medium in many ways. That's part of its success. You have to be between a little and a lot gullible to swallow everything in a direct mail piece.''
North's direct-mail operation, which has a list of more than 170,000 contributors from across the United States, is the subterranean weapon of his well-financed campaign. North mails out appeals for funds almost weekly, and his supporters, many of them retirees, reply with checks for $5, $20, $50, or whatever they can afford.
North's fund-raising apparatus is expected to eclipse the Senate record of $16.9 million set by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-North Carolina, in 1990.
Robb said that the contributor list makes North a political force to be reckoned with - win or lose in November.
North has been a national celebrity - and a formidable fund-raiser - since his defiant appearance before a congressional panel that in 1987 investigated the diversion of profits from arms-for-hostages deals with Iran to anti-communist rebels fighting in Nicaragua.
North later was convicted of three felonies, including one for obstructing Congress for providing misleading written information. The convictions were overturned because an appeals court judge ruled that the jury might have been influenced by North's immunized congressional testimony.
Drawing on that background, Robb has questioned the sincerity and accuracy of North's campaign statements.
In August, North sent out a letter in which he explained that his campaign staff set a goal of raising $15 million. ``It's outrageous but totally accurate,'' North wrote. ``My opponent will probably spend more than that.''
Robb - who has said he could never match North's campaign money - called the claim ``bizarre'' and predicted that it fooled a lot of elderly people.
``The recipients will think, `Poor, Ollie. He needs a hand, and I've already made an investment in him. I'm going to him him some more money. I'll give him half of my pension.' ''
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE U.S. SENATE RACE CAMPAIGN FUND-RAISING
CAMPAIGN FINANCE by CNB