THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 17, 1994 TAG: 9410170046
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Henry Doggett is on the road again, crisscrossing Virginia with J. Marshall Coleman, independent candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Earlier, the Smithfield native, 39, drove 30,000 miles for Jim Miller, who finished a solid second to Oliver L. North at the June 4 GOP nominating convention.
After a 12-day respite, Doggett drove 7,000 miles to the Grand Canyon and Ronald Reagan. Now Coleman and Doggett, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, seek what some deem an impossible dream.
Asked if he minded that pairing, Doggett said, ``Not unless you suggest we are tilting at windmills.''
Coleman, underdog in the race with North and Sen. Charles S. Robb, is heartened by the undecided vote.
U.S. Sen. John Warner, who twice rode with Doggett, told Coleman: ``Whenever you hit a day you're down, the feeling will be fleeting as long as Henry's with you.''
``Isn't he something!'' Miller said. ``He keeps you pumped up. He makes you want to get up and get going. His knowledge of people, places, issues is fabulous.'' He also is adept as a surrogate speaker.
Farming with his father, he is tough as India rubber. Dark hair in a crest, dark eyes expectant, Doggett greets life with a tight grin.
He began in 1976, working for Rep. Bob Daniel when the ground was too wet for plowing. ``The Rainy Day Kid,'' they called him.
He helped Rep. Herb Bateman, Del. William ``Buster'' O'Brien, Dick Obenshain and, as an advance man, Gerald Ford, George Bush and Ronald Reagan. Running around a band shell in St. Petersburg, Fla., he brushed against Reagan, yelling an apology.
He served with the Republican National Committee and as the GOP's executive director in Alaska. In his youth he was a trainer with football teams at William and Mary and with Coach George Allen's Washington Redskins. A natural mimic, he studied acting, among other things, at W & M.
On his cross country trek he found the Grand Canyon a breath-taking spectacle and met the political spectacle in Los Angeles.
Presenting peanuts packaged like Virginia, he said he hoped Reagan would enjoy them. ``Henry,'' said Reagan, holding it up like a child at Christmas, ``I'm already enjoying them.''
As Doggett left, he wondered if he had removed the $17 price tag.
He visited a taping of a Jay Leno show, for which he has a contract to write jokes at $50 each. ``I'm sorry your man lost,'' Leno said, ``but North will provide material for me the rest of the year.''
Why does Doggett do it?
``I've asked myself that question many times,'' he said. ``I like politics, but I love traveling around the state, listening to people, not only about a campaign but also their concerns with what's going on at local, state and national levels.
``I love being on the road.'' ILLUSTRATION: Doggett drove 7,000 miles to see Ronald Reagan - and the Grand
Canyon.
by CNB