THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411050018
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Regardless of the outcome of the Senate campaign on Tuesday, the political story of the year is clear: At the end of a grueling, hard-fought race, Oliver North is still standing. It is an outcome almost no one would have predicted when he began his campaign 2 1/2 years ago, let alone when he was on trial for his transgressions during the Iran-Contra affair. Yet he remains not merely competitive but a possible winner. It is evidence of how strong the anti-Washington, anti-government tide is among the electorate.
``A major component of North's strength comes from people who want to send the ultimate in-your-face message to Congress this year,'' says Mary Washington College political science Professor Mark Rozell.
Indeed, this election is not simply the ``anti-incumbent'' trend that is repeated ad nauseam in print and broadcast media. Not a single incumbent Republican governor or senator seeking re-election is seriously threatened. The number of incumbent Republican members of Congress in trouble can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. Rather, it is incumbents such as Virginia Democratic Sen. Charles Robb, New York's Gov. Mario Cuomo and Tennessee's Democratic Sen. James Sasser who are scrambling to save themselves.
From coast to coast, threatened Democrats are running ads that feature the slamming doors of jail cells and tough talk about crime, calling attention to how ``independent'' they are (of President Clinton, is the unspoken comparison) and even talking up issues such as school prayer and family values. In other words, Democrats are running as . . . Republicans.
In places where Democrats and those who support them can't run away from the record, they are resorting to some pretty incredible scare tactics. In a desperate effort to energize the African-American vote, an independent-expenditure campaign here in Virginia attempts to link Oliver North with racist organizations. New York Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel suggested recently that calling for tax cuts is the modern equivalent of race-baiting.
Liberal spin-controllers may be bravely asserting that their candidates are gaining ground, but the signs of desperation are all on the Democratic side. The reasons are simple: In a world where there is no more Cold War and where the private sector has had to adjust to the realities of international competition, the hard-pressed public that pays the taxes is demanding that the civilian sector of government must change as well. Congress under Democratic control has been resisting making those changes. If Oliver North wins on Tuesday, or even comes close, it will be part of the price of that obstinacy. by CNB