Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER NOTE: below
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The evening sky over Danville has turned a glorious reddish-purple as Republican Oliver North takes the microphone and speaks in a hushed and quivering voice about a police officer's funeral he attended earlier in the day.
He tells of "the thin blue line ... that has now been broken," of "righteous outrage in this land" over crime, of how "the green hills of the commonwealth weep" for their lost son.
It is unscripted, unrehearsed.
Vintage Ollie North.
"A-l-l-l r-r-r-ight. Here we go," barks U.S. Sen. Charles Robb as he bounds down the row of lathered, half-trimmed customers at Joe Loften's barber shop in Richmond's Church Hill.
Two hours behind schedule, Robb moves at a half-jog, dispensing steely handshakes and baritone greetings on the run: "Chuck Robb, nice to see you ... Good to see you ... Chuck Robb ... A-l-l-l r-r-r-ighty."
It is a gung-ho, hyperkinetic show of force.
Vintage Chuck Robb.
If a philosophical breach separates the leading candidates in the U.S. Senate race, the gap in styles is just as wide.
And, perhaps not surprisingly in a year when the challenger is running slightly ahead in polls, the veteran politician is the one racing to keep up.
Robb, a former president's son-in-law who himself once brought a star quality to Virginia politics, this year comes across as mere mortal politician.
It is North, perhaps more than any other statewide candidate in modern times, who transcends the world of stump speeches and precinct canvassing. He is an authentic cultural phenomenon, evoking the sort of folk-hero reception a Richard Petty or a John Wayne might get.
At campaign stop after stop last week, literally dozens of people crowded around North, offering up Winston Cup racing caps, Marine discharge papers and copies of North's book "Under Fire" for autographs. North responded with eye-to-eye intimacy and quiet hand squeezes as he accepted praise such as that offered by Annice Kania, a Danville housewife.
"I've been with you so long, ever since I sat and cried and watched you on television ... Your picture is hanging in my room," gushed Kania after North's evening speech at a park.
Robb was not without his own admirers as he toured Church Hill or showed up at the State Fair on Friday. But there was often a slight awkwardness, a moment's search for pleasantries as Robb chatted about Redskins football or growing a beard or whether a mother and daughter appeared to be sisters.
"He and I have the same problem," quipped Robb as he passed a mannequin of a welder at a fair booth operated by the Mechanical Contractors Association of Richmond. "We're both accused of being a little stiff from time to time."
On the campaign trail, there are a host of differences between Robb and North. Robb plunges into a crowd; crowds envelop North. Robb travels in a red mini-van with only a "Robb for Senate" bumper sticker for identification; North barrels down highways in a large camper emblazoned with blue-and-white North signs.
Robb's standard attire is a white shirt with cuffs buttoned, tie and suit pants; North changes for the occasion, but regularly shows up in plaid shirt and khaki slacks. Even in shirt and tie, North often rolls up his sleeves or softens the formality with a pair of cowboy boots.
North's standard day includes several rallies with supporters; Robb, who's trying to sandwich campaigning between Senate duties, often has hastily arranged events and frequently campaigns in tandem with a local courthouse politician.
Last week, for instance, his Richmond tour of Church Hill was first slated for 3 p.m., then 4:15 p.m., then 5 p.m. as Senate work delayed his departure from Washington. He was escorted by state Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, on a tour of a predominantly black business area that lasted about a half-hour. Then, Robb was whisked off for meetings in his Richmond office.
Robb's carefully crafted theme is that his campaign pits "the mainstream vs. the extreme." But, never a sound-bite politician, Robb is far more likely to expound in lengthy and sometimes convoluted ways about issues. He frequently forgets to mention his campaign tag line.
For instance, last week in a sidewalk press conference, Robb chided North for tolerating public displays of the Confederate flag. But he failed to recite the "mainstream vs. extreme" slogan for the television cameras. Explaining his position on the flag, Robb offered this mouthful: "Any time that it is displayed in an appropriate historical context, I have no objection. It's only when it is displayed in a contemporary context that is subject to - at the very least - mixed interpretations and serves to divide" that he is opposed.
North's pronouncements are more concise and often are delivered with an actor's flair. At stop after stop, for instance, North repeatedly asked audiences for their prayers and said political consultants warn that "you can't get elected" talking about prayer in public.
Then, pausing dramatically, he invariably drew applause by adding, "We shall see. We shall see."
The contrasts were apparent Friday night when both men showed up at an exhibition hall at the State Fair.
North in blue plaid shirt arrived first and was quickly installed in the International Union of Police Associations booth. Lines formed, and he spent much of the evening dispensing autographs and collecting adulation.
Robb, tie knotted and white shirt cuffs buttoned, worked the aisles, collecting cordial greetings. "I'm Chuck Robb. May I say hi?" he asked. Several admirers stopped to wish Robb well or to thank him for helping with a bureaucratic problem.
Not until Robb reached the union booths did the reception turn enthusiastic, however.
Even then, North staffer Mark Short - who trailed in Robb's wake - was doing a brisk business passing out North stickers. "Now, that's the one I want right there," said a man who accepted Short's wares shortly after shaking hands with Robb.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB