THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, August 22, 1995               TAG: 9508220007
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   46 lines

ROBB HAS JOINED THE ENEMY

My wife and I are part of the growing group our middle-class voters increasingly disenchanted with the political process. We grew up during the Depression and matured during World War II.

We saw our parents and relatives, many of them skilled tradesmen, slaving at menial jobs to feed and clothe their families. Some even had to resort to the WPA, which was literally a lifesaver in a time of 25 percent unemployment.

These experiences, which neither the Baby Boomers or Generation X ever encountered, made us Roosevelt Democrats.

To blue-collar and lower middle-class people, the Republicans were perceived as the party of the privileged. They have done nothing since to alter that image. They continue to prove that they are beholden to big business and to preserving the establishment at the expense of the consumer and the working stiff. The attempt by the Newtonians and the Dole gang to scuttle regulations fought for by two generations of legislators trying to protect the consumer's health and the environment is shameful.

We are particularly disturbed by the disclosure, in Bob Herbert's column (Aug. 11, Perspectives) that Chuck Robb has joined the enemy. The column revealed that Robb has sold out to the Dole gang on the so-called regulatory-reform bill.

Robb, based on his voting record, is a ``boll-weevil'' - too often voting with the Republicans. He got our vote and a campaign contribution in the recent election because the alternatives were so horrible.

His performance shows the need for a third party, as the two parties we now have don't provide any choice for people who see greed as the prime motivation of our current crop of ``statesmen.'' We are not right-wing radicals or left-wing nuts, just retired, hard-working citizens who raised a family and believe in old-fashioned values like working for a day's pay and dealing honestly with everyone.

We are disgusted and ready for a change.

JOHN A. HOFFMAN

Virginia Beach, Aug. 13, 1995 by CNB