THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610200039
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 102 lines
Hours before their hero was to arrive, the faithful congregated at Nauticus on Saturday, pumped up and ready to hear the gospel according to Bob Dole.
``If America listens,'' he'll win, insisted Robert Mathews, 47, of Norfolk. ``Dole's a vet. He's served his country. He didn't cut and run. He didn't do drugs. He's not a skirt chaser. He's not a liar.''
Those sentiments were popular as the Dole presidential campaign swung through Norfolk.
``Bob Dole is awesome,'' said Sean Roddy, 17, of Virginia Beach. ``We want him to win so we can vote for him next time.''
Thousands mobbed the pier and open-air reception area under Nauticus to hear Dole and to declare their support of GOP candidates.
``Tate's great! Cuts taxes!'' shouted some young Republicans, borrowing the format of the old ``tastes great, less filling'' beer ads as they worked the crowd for 2nd District congressional candidate John Tate.
The audience swelled with youth - teen-agers not yet old enough to vote; young couples, some with infants; and lots of college students.
``I'm rallying and I'm having a great time,'' said Laurie Lawson, 17, of Virginia Beach. ``I came to learn more about the electoral process.''
With a John Warner poster and a ``15%'' tax-cut sign under one arm, a Dole-Kemp sign in her other hand and a sweater festooned with GOP pins, badges and stickers, she was a campaign rally all her own.
Her loyalty to Dole - ``He's a nice man'' - has its roots in her upbringing, she said. ``My dad's in the military, so we're a pretty conservative family,'' she said. ``I started having some Democratic ideals once. My mother said, `Eeewww.' ''
There were even Dogs for Dole.
Colleen Moore, a collie, sported Dole stickers on her coat. ``If you can get us a Clinton sticker, we'll put it on her rear end,'' offered owner Whit Moore of Chesapeake.
Many folks decided against joining the crush of people under Nauticus, gambling instead on stealing an up-close glimpse of Dole by waiting at the front entrance.
Security was tight there, with police and Secret Service agents everywhere. People coming from a wine festival in Town Point Park were told they could not carry their purchases with them. Some left perplexed, but security agents saw wine bottles as potential projectiles.
Scores of people lined the intersection of Waterside Drive and Main Street, waving signs and banners and shouting ``Dole! Kemp! Dole! Kemp!'' as the motorcade arrived, led by a phalanx of Virginia State Police and Norfolk police motorcycles and cars.
Hundreds more who had waited patiently around the traffic circle in front of Nauticus were disappointed, however. Dole's car sped through the gate, down a secured parking area and out of view behind Nauticus.
``Was that him?'' one woman asked as she waved hopefully. More folks moaned in disappointment.
Groans turned to wild, sustained cheers minutes later, when Dole took center stage and unleashed a barrage on Clinton.
``I believe he tells the truth,'' Kris Whelan, 39, of Norfolk said of Dole. ``And character does count.''
Whelan voiced no disappointment - as some others did - at not being able to see Dole through the huge crowd. ``We should be glad that so many people showed up, you couldn't see him,'' she said.
``It's great that's he's here, and I love hearing him,'' said Paula Walters of Portsmouth. ``But I'm concerned that he feels like he has to be in Virginia at all. He should be able to count on Virginia and campaign to win other states. John Warner has really divided our party, and now it's affecting Mr. Dole.''
Others also worried about the Dole campaign's future - a few noting wryly that Dole's venue - Nauticus - soon will feature items recovered from the sunken liner Titanic. And many blamed the media for Dole's woes.
``The press has thrown every roadblock it can in front of the Republicans,'' said Marc Sterling, 51, who came down from Richmond. ``When he attacks Clinton, you say he's being negative; when he takes the high road, you say his campaign is faltering. Clinton probably will win, and it's not right.''
The national media was there Saturday, having arrived just ahead of the candidate.
``How do you pronounce the name of this place,'' one network journalist asked a local in the crowd. ``Is it `Norf-faulk' or `Nor-fork?' '' Given the correct answer, he was skeptical. ``No. I can't say it like that.''
While Clinton jokes were the order of the day, interlopers offered up a few jabs at Dole.
Dexter Miller, 37, of Norfolk, a self-described Democrat, chuckled that he had come over from the wine festival next door ``where I just sampled some fine Virginia wines, so I thought I'd come here to check on the sour grapes.''
Two Old Dominion University students showed up with hand-painted signs lauding Clinton for his support of education.
One sign was snatched away immediately by a Dole backer. ``It's our rally, sorry,'' he said as he folded the sign and stuck it between his legs. ``Don't be stupid,'' another man told the students.
Sally Rimmer, 20, a sophomore, was nervous but undeterred.
``I want to make a point,'' Rimmer said, crediting Clinton and the Democratic Party for policies favorable to college students. She said she feared her education, funded in part with federal grants, would not be possible in a Dole administration.
``I go to college, too, and I work a job for it,'' countered Amy Couch, 25, of Virginia Beach, also an ODU student. ``I don't rely on grants and all that. I pay my way.''
Couch said she supports Dole because ``I have two kids, and I'm concerned about their future and their morals.''
KEYWORDS: PRESIDENTIAL RACE 1996 CANDIDATES
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