THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 30, 1996 TAG: 9610300469
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 45 lines
Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner campaigns as an information-age visionary, but his final election effort relies on a traditional, low-tech political tool: the U.S. Mail.
The mailbox strategy is a typical tactic late in political campaigns, distributing information straight to the voters, often too late for opponents or the press to react.
Mark Warner's campaign spokesman would not give details, only confirming that the campaign plans to mail brochures.
Warner's opponent, Republican Sen. John Warner, does not expect to use direct mail.
Two pieces of Mark Warner's literature - one already in mailboxes, the other poised for release - have made it into the hands of John Warner's supporters. They held a news conference Tuesday hoping to head off the Democrat's message.
At issue was a brochure that Mark Warner's campaign spokesman said might not ever go out.
The front reads ``Most Virginia families can't afford nursing home care. Now, John Warner has a solution. . . '' When the brochure is unfolded, a small house pops up. ``Sell your house,'' it says. ``Senator John Warner voted to cut Medicaid. . . which could make seniors sell the family home!''
The effect that Republican spending plans, which John Warner supported, would have on senior citizens is not a new issue. The GOP's proposals to trim $270 billion from Medicare and $163 billion from Medicaid have fueled Democratic criticism around the country.
The Democrats, too, call for cuts in spending, in smaller doses.
But the Republican plan, which President Clinton vetoed, would have lifted a federal restriction that keeps states from making relatives pay nursing home costs.
Members of the senior lobbying group called The 60 Plus Association lashed out against the brochure in Richmond. That drew criticism from Mark Warner's campaign because of the group's close ties to another organization, the Seniors Coalition, which has a history of fraud accusations.
John Warner, campaigning in Richmond Tuesday, called the advertisement ``so tragic that I just dismiss it.
``No one's going to lose a home, and everyone knows it,'' he said.
KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING U.S. SENATE RACE ELECTION by CNB