Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 29, 1993 TAG: 9310290109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON AND ROB EURE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
In a commercial playing on radio stations catering to black listeners in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Richmond and Hampton Roads, the Allen camp asserts that "Terry's been criticizing, attacking and even filed a lawsuit against Gov. Doug Wilder."
"Why?" a woman's voice asks, "Because her campaign is desperate, and she's using Doug Wilder to try to convince us that she's our friend."
"Don't be fooled," a male voice chimes in. "For 15 years, Terry's been a close ally of Chuck Robb, whose closest advisers are running Terry's campaign."
"Robb is Wilder's worst enemy," the woman adds.
The ad "shows the complete duplicity of the Allen campaign," fumed Tom King, Terry's chief strategist. "They're on mainstream . . . white radio attacking Mary Sue for being too close to Doug. And they're on black radio attacking her for being against Doug. . . . Her middle name is Wilder, according to George."
"I think they think everyone's stupid," King added.
The ads began running Wednesday and are scheduled to continue through Sunday, several station officials said.
"It's despicable to run this, especially when Allen is linking Terry to Robb and Wilder," said Dr. W. Avon Drake, a political scientist at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Drake said the ad shows that Allen "doesn't respect the intelligence of the black electorate. He thinks they will just believe what they hear on the radio - that they don't read the newspaper or hear what ads he runs on other media."
But Drake said that unless Wilder responds with a "strong, aggressive and convincing ad" supporting Terry, " . . . an ad like this could serve as support for the lack of enthusiasm in the black community for Terry. It could strengthen the idea that blacks should sit home - and not voting is tantamount to a vote for Allen."
Wilder, the nation's first black elected governor, has complained about Terry's failure to embrace his record. He declined comment Thursday on the Allen commercial, but the Terry campaign released a reply ad in which Wilder assures black listeners that "Mary Sue Terry will build on our agenda" and urges them to support her.
Ken Stroupe, an Allen spokesman, apologized "if the ad is insensitive or offensive" to blacks. "Our purpose is to point out how hypocritical she is to distance herself from the governor until the polls show she's in trouble and having trouble with the African-American vote."
Allen, campaigning Thursday night in eastern Virginia, also defended the ad. "When it serves her purpose, she distances herself from Bill Clinton and Doug Wilder. When it serves her purpose, she says she supports them. That's what I call duplicity," he said.
Stroupe said the Allen campaign began running its ad only after Terry ran ads targeted to blacks and cozying up to Wilder.
But Bill Knapp, a Washington-based media consultant for Terry, said that until Thursday, Terry's advertising on black-oriented stations never mentioned Wilder.
Also Thursday, campaigning in Northern Virginia, Allen said he would favor allowing localities to reinstate corporal punishment in schools, as long as parents approve.
Asked about calls by Mike Farris, his running mate for lieutenant governor, for reinstatement of spanking, Allen said he would sign a bill that included local option and parental consent.
"I got swatted in school," Allen said, adding that he does not use corporal punishment with his own children.
As a member of the House of Delegates in the 1980s, Allen voted against a bill that outlawed physical punishment of children in public schools.
Staff writer Warren Fiske contributed to this story.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB