THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609150056
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: 95 lines
Mark Warner tramped across Southwest Virginia for 14 hours Friday, knowing all along there was nothing he could have done - short of a death-defying motorcyle leap over the New River - to upstage a sitting U.S. senator.
Across the state, Republican Sen. John Warner was squiring former President Bush around Norfolk and waxing statesman-like about growing military tensions in Iraq.
Mark Warner, the Democratic challenger, pushed ahead with a string of low-key appearances that included a Habitat for Humanity potluck and a pickup basketball game with Virginia Tech students.
``This is `retail politics,' '' Warner said late in the day, between bites of a pork barbecue sandwich. ``You gotta believe it makes a difference. It's the multiplier effect. Those kids on the basketball court - the word will get around that I was there.''
Move over, Bob Dole. Mark Warner may be the Most Optimistic Man in America.
Like Dole, Warner is challenging a well-entrenched incumbent and appears to be going nowhere in the polls.
Mark Warner presses ahead with the confidence of someone who has achieved the unthinkable once before - and thinks he might just pull it off again.
Warner, 41, built a fortune in the 1980s after he persuaded a stranger to invest $1 million in the nascent cellular telephone market. He now presses ahead on the campaign trail, hopeful that his pitch about the coming Information Age will begin to resonate with voters in the seven weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
The wireless communications tycoon, who is worth more than $100 million, keeps his chin up when skeptical reporters ask about his prospects. He betrays no self-doubt when asked about his defiance of conventional wisdom that 69-year-old John Warner can punch a lifetime ticket to the Senate.
But, in a concession that not all is well, Warner reshuffled his campaign staff Saturday, moving campaign manager Emily Smith to a consulting role and promoting finance director Anita Rimler to the top job.
Warner also began airing a new television commercial attacking John Warner for voting for cuts in Medicare and student loans, and opposing the Family Leave Act, which allows workers to take unpaid leave to tend to sick family members.
The ad features a flattering color photograph of the senator. Mark Warner strategists fear a backlash if they attempt to demonize the popular senator, whom they refer to as ``Uncle John.'' They hope that a steady display of TV ads detailing John Warner's voting record will have a cumulative effect that will dissolve John Warner's centrist image.
Because of his deep pockets, Mark Warner has the advantage of not having to spend time begging contributors to bet on a long-shot. He has the means to keep his message on the tube and himself on the road.
On Friday Warner hopped into a twin-prop at the Roanoke Regional Airport for a quick flight to Abingdon for a press conference with four high-tech executives, who flew in a separate plane from Northern Virginia.
After a bumpy flight back to Roanoke, Warner climbed into his wife's purple minivan and was driven to Chinatown Restaurant, where 20 black Democrats were waiting for him.
Describing his vision of the dawning Information Age, Warner linked technological progress with advances in civil rights.
He noted that John Warner had voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1990 and opposed affirmative action.
``We cannot retreat,'' Mark Warner said. ``If technology does not come to all of Virginia, we will have a state re-segregated, based on who has access to technology and who doesn't.''
His next stop was Blacksburg, for a speech to 200 students taking an introductory course in political science. He again talked about a technological revolution, coming close to accusing his opponent of being technologically illiterate.
``I don't have all the answers,'' Mark Warner said. ``But you look at most members of Congress, and they're not even asking the right questions.''
Students had some tough questions of their own at a reception following the class. They pressed Warner for his views on everything from homosexual marriage (he backs the bill to ban same-sex marriages) to President Clinton's record on truth-telling.
Asked to say something nice about John Warner, Mark Warner replied, ``He stood up against Ollie North.''
After the reception, Warner betrayed his frustration with his 20-point deficit in the polls. Claiming that college students tend to identify with his message that the economy is on the brink of an Information Age revolution, he sighed, ``If I could make this an election of 30 and under, I'd win by 40 points.''
Warner's confidence returned upon entering the Tech fieldhouse for a pickup basetball game. He was not the most graceful player on the court, but fought inside for a number of what he called ``trash baskets.'' He led his team to victory, but tired in the second game against kids half his age.
``It's times like this that I wish I weren't running for the Senate,'' he said later, in the locker room. ``It would be nice to hang out on a Friday night, drink a beer.''
He pulled on his clothes, knotted his tie, climbed back into the mini-van and began studying briefing papers for his next stop. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Mark Warner
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES
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