THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 8, 1995 TAG: 9502080523
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
He is so old - and looks it - that one cartoonist recently drew him embedded in amber, like the perfectly preserved prehistoric mosquitoes of ``Jurassic Park.''
But 92-year-old Sen. Strom Thurmond insists he's up to the job of presiding over the Senate Armed Services Committee, and this week he apparently headed off a move to oust him.
``I think it's just a little power play and there's nothing to it,'' Thurmond told The Associated Press.
According to several reports, Virginia Sen. John W. Warner was one of the senators involved in talk of pushing Thurmond aside because of concerns that the South Carolinian had at times appeared disoriented during committee meetings.
If there was a plan afoot - and several of those allegedly involved denied there was - it died when Thurmond met privately on Monday with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. He won Dole's backing and a statement calling him ``an excellent senator.''
Warner, who by virtue of seniority would take over committee leadership were Thurmond removed, has stayed away from public discussions about the chairman's performance.
``I nominated him for chairman, and we're trying to make it work,'' Warner said Tuesday of his relationship with Thurmond.
Is it difficult?
``I'm not going to get into that. . . . We're trying to make it work,'' Warner said.
Relations between Thurmond and Warner have appeared cool since 1993, when Thurmond used his seniority to bump Warner as the ranking, or leading, Republican on the committee. As ranking member, Thurmond was in line for the chairmanship when Republicans gained control of the Senate last November.
A former secretary of the Navy, Warner has made the military his focus during three Senate terms. At Armed Services Committee meetings, he sits alongside the chairman, acting as chairman when other business takes Thurmond away.
Quiet questions about Thurmond's fitness - his gait is slow, he is increasingly hard of hearing and he often appears led by, rather than leading, his staff - were voiced around the Senate soon after the November election.
Warner moved quickly then to squelch talk of a coup, expressing affection for Thurmond that he reiterated in a statement issued Tuesday night. In an interview, Warner confirmed that he also met privately with Thurmond on Monday, apparently after Thurmond's session with Dole. He declined to discuss details of their chat. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
The 92-year-old senator staved off a political coup in the Armed
Services Committee.
by CNB