THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410270497
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb knew what he wanted to do Tuesday going into a luncheon speech to the Alexandria Rotary Club.
He would make the case for his re-election by dramatizing the difference between his support for deficit reduction and the budget-busting proposal by his Republican challenger, Oliver L. North.
He would show the Rotarians - business owners who understand what it means to live within a budget - that he is the only candidate who should be taken seriously.
Twenty minutes into his speech, however, it became all too apparent that Robb was not getting his message across.
A hand shot up, stopping him in mid-thought.
``Sen. Robb, these are all very significant issues,'' Stuart Matthews said in a pleasant English accent. ``But this race is coming down to a horse race, neck and neck, between two candidates. Please tell us straight from the horse's mouth why you deserve to win more than Oliver North.''
That is exactly what Robb thought he had been doing.
With less than two weeks before Election Day, Robb all too often appears incapable of articulating a simple, clear message why voters should return him to the Senate for a second six-year term.
Robb is fighting for his political life against North, a deft orator who has been able to distill his anti-Washington message into a few memorable phrases such as, ``You cannot hear the heartbeat of America from the back seat of a limousine driving down Pennsylvania Avenue.''
Robb faces the more difficult task of defending a political standard under siege.
It would be a tall order even for a politician who has perfected the language of sound bites. Robb, however, has yet to master speaking in simple, declarative sentences.
His speeches and news conferences often bog down in a morass of statistics and tortured syntax. He stutters and stammers. He is like a man bursting with so much information that he doesn't know how to begin to convey it.
Even journalists who cover the Democrat regularly have a hard time figuring out what he is saying.
``I'm not a reporter, I'm a damn interpreter,'' one scribe complained Wednesday while trying to decipher a Robb statement on abortion.
Robb himself seems frustrated by his inability to get his message across. In a recent interview with the Roanoke Times & World-News editorial board, he threw up his hands in trying to explain why indiscretions in his personal life should not be put on equal footing with North lying to Congress in his duties as a White House aide.
``Maybe I'll wait and write a book,'' Robb said, dejectedly.
His staff has offered to write speeches for him, but Robb refuses to read from a text. He allows his staff to give him ``talking points,'' which he usually ignores.
In his Tuesday lunch speech, Robb had this to say when asked to explain why he should be re-elected:
``Let me tell you that I take great pride in the record that I have established over eight years in Virginia state government, four as lieutenant governor and four as governor, and over six years in the Senate.
``I would like to continue the mainstream approach to deal responsibly with some of the questions, and they start with the budget. I'm really just on topic No. 1. Let me give you a quick thumbnail summary of my basic philosophy.''
He proceeded to ramble on for another 10 minutes. His closest brush with a concise mission statement - ``I believe that it is important that Virginians do remain in the mainstream of political thought and we do not take departures in other areas that clearly would put us at variance to a long and proud heritage'' - was buried in a veritable filibuster of a speech.
Robb finally paused and asked if there were any other questions.
He glanced around the room for hands.
``I haven't put everybody to sleep?'' he asked. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Staff file
Stilted syntax often seems the greatest barrier between Charles Robb
and voters.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES
CAMPAIGNING by CNB