THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110308
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A01 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Analysis
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
As Virginia's U.S. Senate race enters its final four weeks, the drama has shifted to whether incumbent Charles S. Robb - once so feared that no right-minded Republican would take him on - can respond to a bare-fisted fight for his political life.
Republican challenger Oliver L. North had the story line to himself over the summer as Robb spent most of his time in the Senate. Robb now admits that he miscalculated North's might as a celebrity and a fund-raising superpower.
But North's momentum has slowed in the last week. A string of public misstatements led his handlers to dampen North's rhetoric and even to keep him off the road to stave off fatigue. The lull made an opening for Robb to hit the airwaves Monday with an ad attacking North's ability to tell the truth.
The escalation suits independent candidate J. Marshall Coleman, who despite dwindling poll numbers continues to wait in the wings for North and Robb to destroy each other.
``Unfortunately, politics has become real rough and tumble these days,'' state Democratic Chairman Mark Warner said. Robb's ``personality is not to attack, but I think he's very much engaged right now and ready to do what has to be done.''
In the 13 years since his last competitive race, Robb settled into the notion that politics is a matter of dry discourse and policy study.
Of course, it was easy for Robb to stay above the fray when no one could lay a glove on him.
He led Virginia Democrats out of the political wilderness by winning the lieutenant governor's race in 1977 and capturing the governor's mansion four years later. He was the first of three consecutive Democratic chief executives. Democrats sported ``I Live for Chuck Robb'' buttons.
Seven years ago, Robb was so powerful that when word got out that he might like to serve in the U.S. Senate, GOP incumbent Paul S. Trible retired rather than face him.
Robb was the handsome ex-Marine with the mystique of having married the daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Many predicted he was destined for the White House.
The aura is gone, washed away by Robb's tortured explanations of his marital troubles during his term as governor and by his feud with fellow Democrat L. Douglas Wilder, which led to a federal wiretapping investigation.
The recent troubles have taken their toll on Robb. His youthful vigor is gone, leaving hunched shoulders and sunken cheeks. He looks all of his 55 years.
The life has drained from his popularity as well, leaving Robb as one of the most unpopular sitting senators in the country, according to Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc. of Columbia, Md.
Robb's saving grace may be that North is one of the most polarizing figures anywhere. North gained fame in 1987 with a defiant appearance before a congressional panel investigating the Iran-Contra scandal.
North, a master campaigner, preaches a take-no-prisoners brand of conservatism that casts everyone as for him or against him, leaving little middle ground.
Throughout the summer, the Robb campaign headquarters in Northern Virginia dismissed warnings from downstate Democrats who saw North's growing strength. Robb and his advisers followed inside-the-Washington-Beltway thinking that the former Iran-Contra figure could not expand his appeal beyond evangelical Christians and like-minded conservatives.
Democrats now say Robb can control the script for the final weeks of the campaign if he can find a voice to rally supporters behind his candidacy - or at least to articulate the fears that many see in North.
There are signs of a new-found aggressiveness in Robb. He coined the phrase ``Ollie's World'' to describe what he claims is North's inability to distinguish between truth and lies, fact and fantasy. Robb's new TV spot - entitled ``Lies'' - lists several former associates who have accused North of being untruthful.
``I don't want to do anything to demean the office,'' Robb said. ``It wouldn't be worth the fight to get there. That should not be misconstrued as a lack of fight in the dog.''
North's campaign dismisses Robb's harsher tone as the last-ditch efforts of a desperate man. Asked if he'll begin negative ads in response, North said, ``We'll see. I'm confident the voters of Virginia will see plenty of ads in the next (few) days.''
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE U.S. SENATE RACE
by CNB