THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611020327
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Decision '96
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 73 lines
Admittedly tired and lagging in the polls, Democrat Mark Warner was looking for some friends. And he'd come to the right place.
He won't get the vote of the guy who stood next to him at Friday night's debate before the state NAACP convention - opponent Sen. John Warner. But he seemed to have just about every other vote in the Holiday Inn Executive Center.
At the final debate of the election, carried on live television, the crowd murmured in support at many of his answers.
``He says it right,'' said Sandra Carter, watching from the third row. ``I feel like he's talking to me.''
Still, many NAACP members appreciated the fact that John Warner cared enough to show up. Other Republican politicians - notably presidential candidate Bob Dole and Gov. George Allen - have turned down similar invitations.
``I think he should get some credit,'' said Shirley Baker of Williamsburg.
Walter Potts, a Department of Corrections counselor from South Boston, predicted that John Warner will win a noticeable chunk of black votes Tuesday because he is not a threatening, polarizing candidate like Iran-Contra figure Oliver North was two years ago.
``It's unfortunate for the Mark Warner campaign that he's not,'' Potts said.
The two Warners have debated publicly three times before, each time fielding many of the same questions and offering many of the same answers.
But from NAACP members from around the state came questions that the two men have rarely, if ever, handled in public debate.
``We spend $5,000 a year to educate a child and $30,000 a year to house a criminal,'' said one man in the audience. ``What are we going to do to help the children?''
The answers were often similar, both men promising a commitment to education and equality for all Virginians. But even when they gave the same answers, Mark Warner got most of the applause.
They heard questions about drug use and affirmative action, both promising to fight the first and support the latter when appropriate. They were asked about recent allegations that the CIA looked the other way as drugs were smuggled into Los Angeles in the 1980s, and both called for a swift and thorough investigation.
One woman asked how the candidates could help parents discipline their children without fear of battery or abuse charges. The Warners said it's a problem, but one the states, not the federal government, will have to resolve.
A poll conducted at the end of October for The Virginian-Pilot showed John Warner with large leads in every region of Virginia, but trailing among African-American voters by a 78 percent to 15 percent margin.
Mark Warner spent much of Friday with predominantly black audiences in Danville and Martinsville, and said he is counting on a large turnout among African Americans to boost his odds on Election Day.
During the breakfast benediction in Danville, Rev. H.G. McGhee seemed to concur. ``We ask for the inspiration to help others go to the polls,'' McGhee said.
Friday's debate, televised live around the state, began with some unexpected fireworks when NAACP officials refused a request from John Warner's campaign to have Hampton University President Bill Harvey introduce the senator on camera.
Then, with cameras rolling, NAACP President Paul Gillis accused a Warner volunteer, who is black, of using ``the N-word'' in protest of the decision.
John Warner, who said he knew nothing of the incident, invited the volunteer to the microphone to defend himself. The volunteer later admitted using the word, but only after it had been uttered by an NAACP official. John Warner, calling the word unacceptable in any circumstance, said he severed all ties with the volunteer.
MEMO: Staff writer David M. Poole contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: U.S SENATE RACE ELECTION DEBATE CANDIDATES
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