THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610190238
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RESTON LENGTH: 77 lines
This year's U.S. Senate race in Virginia is about jobs, the economy, the future of technology and defense and strong leadership into the 21st Century, both candidates agreed Friday.
But don't forget that business about Mark Warner's head appearing on Chuck Robb's body.
The candidates sure won't. During an hour-long debate Friday, and for another half-hour after, the two-week old flap over the faked photograph stirred the campaign coals like nothing else the Warners or four panelists could concoct.
The strongest rhetoric, the hottest exchange, the funniest joke - all of it stemmed from John Warner's controversial commercial that showed a doctored photograph of Mark Warner, his head planted on Robb's body to look as if he had been shaking hands with former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and smiling next to Bill Clinton.
The day after the fake was exposed by the press, John Warner apologized, fired the producer, pulled the ad off the air and put the matter behind him. And ever since, wherever the two opponents go, the controversy over the ad is still right behind them.
When Mark Warner took the stage Friday, he promptly announced, ``For those of you who don't know me, this is what I look like when my head is attached to my own body.''
``I don't bring it up, Mark Warner continually brings it up,'' John Warner said after the debate before the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce.
``It's not me bringing it up, the press keeps asking about it,'' Mark Warner had said only moments earlier.
Both Warners are impeccably polite, even to each other, whenever they appear in public. And when they're not talking about phantom photos, they can be rather amicable fellows.
They call for balancing the federal budget, and would support constitutional amendments making it mandatory. Mark Warner might pare back defense spending a little, while John Warner routinely calls for defense expansion, but both call fiscal management a top priority.
During the debate, Mark Warner criticized John Warner for a vote that cut money from federal student loans, but both men call the program vital to American education and credit it for their own successful careers.
Neither wanted the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco, while both said they want to reform the federal laws governing financing of political campaigns. They finance their campaigns different ways - Mark Warner with his own money, John Warner with money from Political Action Committees - but both are millionaires, and each questions the finances of the other.
They aslo [also] agree on most foreign affairs issues.
The two Warners will debate another time before the Nov. 5 election, before a group of NAACP members in Hampton Roads Nov. 1.
The Warners each said the election boils own to one question, though they don't agree what it is.
``The voters should ask themselves who has the experience to handle the job,'' said John Warner, 69, seeking his fourth term in the Senate.
``The question people should answer is whether John Warner's opposition of Ollie North is enough to excuse his record. I say it is not,'' Mark Warner said.
But Friday's exchange suggested another question that will be answered in the coming weeks: How long will everyone keep talking about that fake photograph?
``I think it probably, in his mind, is an issue he can win on,'' said John Warner, who leads by double digits in all published polls. ``I think Virginia voters have heard enough about this - they understand what happened and can make their own decisions.''
``Look at the overall campaign, and the attacks he's made. Is he calling me dirty and stupid?'' Mark Warner asked. ``That kind of attack is something the voters see through. It's something they should look at.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Mark Warner
John Warner
KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN CANDIDATE U.S. SENATE RACE
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