THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611030088
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 67 lines
A campaign aide's use of a racial slur wounded Sen. John Warner personally but will not cut into his overwhelming lead over a Democratic challenger, Warner said Saturday.
The volunteer aide was hauled up to the podium during a televised debate Friday night after the president of the state NAACP accused the man of using ``the n-word'' during discussions with debate coordinators earlier in the day.
As television cameras broadcast the exchange live across Virginia and on C-Span2 nationwide, the aide, Lyn Williams, denied using the word. John Warner said he knew nothing about the incident but apologized to the debate audience.
An hour after the debate concluded, Williams, who is black, reversed himself, and was fired by Warner in front of reporters. The senator said, ``I find the use of that word totally unacceptable in any context, and I cannot find any excuse.''
Williams did not comment after the debate at the state convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
On Saturday, after a campaign rally with Republican Gov. George F. Allen, John Warner said, ``Politically, I don't think it's going to make any difference, I really don't. Virginians are fair-minded. And fortunately, it happened on television before everybody.''
It was the campaign's second self-inflicted wound in as many months and the second time a stern-faced John Warner made a public apology.
Early last month, the Republican aired a television ad that turned out to contain a photograph that was faked to show Mark Warner with President Clinton and former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder. The Democrat's head was superimposed on Sen. Charles Robb's body in the ad.
John Warner quickly pulled the ad after reporters asked about it, and said he knew nothing of the deception before the ad aired. The senator also fired the media consultant who made the ad and called he episode ``a great tragedy.''
Mark Warner has made much of that incident, which focused rare public and press attention on his underdog campaign.
But he had little to say about his opponent's latest stumble.
``I was surprised when it happened. I don't know any of the circumstances. I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment,'' Mark Warner said during a campaign stop Saturday.
The slur incident began when Williams and state NAACP chief Paul C. Gillis of Suffolk argued over the debate arrangements, John Warner said. Williams and the senator wanted a university president's introductory remarks televised, and Gillis refused, John Warner said.
Gillis said the aide, in discussing who was to introduce the senator, had asked, ``Is this going to be a nigger-rigged event?''
As the first question of the debate, Gillis asked John Warner: ``I would like to know if this is the standard of your campaign?''
Williams was a liaison between the senator's campaign and the debate organizers. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press and
The Washington Post. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mark Warner, left, and Sen. John Warner, center, listen as Lyn
Williams, a campaign aide of John Warner, addresses a charge of
using a racial slur during the beginning of a debate between the
senator and his Democratic challenger in Virginia Beach on Friday.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA ELECTION VIRGINIA
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