THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090340
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FALLS CHURCH, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Republicans have long memories, failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and other Reagan-era GOP figures said Monday, as they denounced Sen. John Warner's vote against Bork nine years ago.
Bork and former Attorney General Edwin Meese are backing former Reagan Budget Director James C. Miller III's campaign to unseat Warner, a three-term Republican.
Warner was among five Republicans who voted with Democrats to deny Bork a seat on the court in 1987. Opponents of Bork, then a federal appeals court judge, called him too extreme.
``Any senator who would not support Bob Bork for the Supreme Court does not belong in the Senate,'' Meese said at a news conference with Bork at Miller's Northern Virginia headquarters.
Bork, now a legal scholar at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, signed a fund-raising letter for Miller last week. Bork plans to campaign for Miller but can't vote for him, since Bork lives across the Potomac River in Washington.
Bork's letter shows he is still sore about Warner's conduct in 1987. Bork's support also indicates Miller's grudge match goes back further than Warner's refusal to back GOP nominees in 1993 and 1994.
Warner lied when he explained his vote against Bork by recounting details of an interview the senator had with Bork, Bork's letter said. Bork claims much of Warner's account of that meeting was false.
``It is bad enough when left-wing demagogues like Ted Kennedy attack their opponents with lies. It is far worse when a supposed Republican caves in to liberal pressure and them defends himself in the same way,'' Bork wrote.
Warner campaign spokesman Eric Peterson said Warner doesn't regret his vote.
``The senator votes on principle, and the principle he voted on at that point was he didn't feel the temperaments of the judge were suited to the position,'' Peterson said.
Miller hopes to tap conservative activists' resentment, but many mainstream Republican leaders support Warner. Warner also consistently scores well in statewide popularity polls.
Miller hopes to beat Warner in a primary this June. Miller also tried for the Senate in 1994, when Iran-Contra figure Oliver North was the GOP nominee.
Warner declined to support home-schooling advocate Michael P. Farris for lieutenant governor, then backed a rival independent candidate against North. Many Republicans blame Warner for North's loss, and conservatives vowed revenge.
Miller said he would have voted to confirm Bork, and would support other conservative nominees.
Miller pointed to four causes dear to conservative hearts where Supreme Court decisions might have been different with Bork on the court. In 5-4 decisions, the court has sided against conservatives on school prayer, abortion, flag burning and term limits, Miller said.
``It's not just the injustice done a distinguished jurist. It's the difference made in our lives,'' Miller said.
Three former Reagan administration lawyers also endorsed Miller on Monday.
``John Warner broke with Ronald Reagan and his Republican colleagues, the vast majority of them, and joined the liberal Democrats,'' said Charles Cooper, a former Justice Department official who worked on the Bork nomination. ``That was a tragic, treasonable act.''
Mark Warner, a northern Virginia telecommunications executive, and former Rep. Leslie Byrne are the mainstream candidates vying for the Democratic Senate nomination. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
The 1987 supreme court nomination of Robert Bork, above, was voted
against by five Republicans, including Sen. John Warner.
by CNB