Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 29, 1993 TAG: 9310290363
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Mack, chastised by party leadership in February for a news release linking three GOP lawmakers to the Ku Klux Klan, said the flier critical of Republican Nick Rush went out by mistake.
``It's unfortunate, but sometimes things get lost in the shuffle,'' Mack said by telephone from Richmond. ``Jim has said from day one he wanted to run a positive, issue-oriented campaign.''
Mack's admission came as the previously well-mannered House of Delegates race descended into negative campaign accusations and countercharges.
Rush, a Christiansburg delivery driver, and Shuler, a Blacksburg veterinarian, are fighting for the seat representing northern Montgomery County, Blacksburg, part of Christiansburg and eastern Giles County.
Whoever gets the last word on campaign fliers, the real issues are which candidate will generate high voter turnout in his respective home base, and whether Rush can win uncommitted voters in the Blacksburg-area precincts, which traditionally vote Democratic.
Shuler had pledged to focus on education and health and prison reform, not negative campaigning. He said Wednesday the anti-Rush flier embarrassed him.
The ad, Rush said Thursday, is wrong. ``What I dislike is that he sends out 8,000 lies, then he can come out and apologize for it,`` he said. ``He never says it's not true and he never takes responsibility for the mistake.''
The light-blue direct mailing, which Shuler campaign officials estimate reached nearly 3,000 homes in Giles and Christiansburg, shows a frowning little girl on one side with large type asking, ``How do we explain to her ... that Nick Rush diverted over $200,000 in state funds earmarked specifically for her education?'' Shuler said he stopped the bulk of the mailing of 7,000 to 8,000 fliers at the Blacksburg post office.
The flier's genesis was a March 1992 Montgomery Board of Supervisors decision to not increase local funding for education by the amount sent by the state to help rectify the disparity in school spending between wealthy school divisions and Southwest Virginia counties.
Though Rush acknowledges voting against a motion that would have restored the funds, he says he did so because it would have meant a tax increase. Moreover, Rush said, he voted against the overall budget.
Meanwhile, Shuler said, another newly arrived direct mailing shows Rush's ``true colors.''
The flier depicts a trio of tattooed inmates with the text: ``
Virginia's prisoners like Jim Shuler's liberal philosophy ... but Nick Rush doesn't!''
The flier claims Shuler opposes abolishing parole for major drug dealers, opposes mandatory life sentences for criminals convicted three times of violent crimes and criticizes capital punishment for first-degree murderers. Shuler said Thursday all three statements are incorrect.
``It looks like he's succumbed to the pressures of his handlers in Richmond and is hitting the low point,'' Shuler said. The flier states it is authorized by the Virginia Republican Party.
One of Rush's major campaign planks has been reforming Virginia's parole system, in an echo of GOP gubernatorial candidate George Allen. Rush has said he supports abolishing parole for drug dealers, supports mandatory life sentences for three-time violent offenders and backs capital punishment.
Rush defended the new flier as being based on statements Shuler has made on the campaign trail. ``Jim Shuler and I have differences on crime,''
Rush said. ``He is weak on crime and I'm tougher on criminals. We'll let the voters decide.''
Rush, meanwhile, Thursday questioned Shuler's support for a Virginia Education Association proposal to change the formula for calculating how the state distributes money to its 136 school districts. The VEA's state and local political action committees endorsed Shuler and donated $500 to his campaign. Rush noted that an article in Sunday's Roanoke Times & World-News quoted the VEA's president as stating that he would not release specifics of the plan until after the election because it involves a tax increase.
Shuler said Thursday he had read the article and has read the VEA plan three or four times. He said the plan is only a starting point and may not end up involving a tax increase. What he likes about the plan is its tiered approach to encouraging localities to increase their funding for education in return for increased state funding.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB