ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606050058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHESTER
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Below
Ignoring a warning that siding with incumbent Sen. John Warner could hurt his own chances in November, Dole campaigned with his colleague in Virginia.
Bob Dole came anyway, despite Jim Miller's warning.
The presumptive Republican nominee journeyed to this bedroom community 15 miles south of Richmond on Tuesday to challenge President Clinton to support a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
Dole said he will bring the matter up for a vote before he retires from the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to focus on his presidential bid. The amendment failed in the Senate by one vote last year, an outcome Dole said could be reversed if the president would urge Democrats to sign on.
"As I said yesterday, Mr. President: No winks, no nods, no maneuvers," Dole said. "Say it out loud. Say you're for the balanced budget amendment."
Dole avoided discussing state politics even though he has become a player in the June 11 GOP primary. U.S. Senate candidate Jim Miller said Sunday in Roanoke that Dole risked alienating many Republican activists by supporting Sen. John Warner, now that the state GOP convention has voted 3-1 to express a preference for Miller.
"I'll be back to talk about that," said Dole, referring to a Warner fund-raiser he is scheduled to attend Saturday in McLean along with Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Warner accompanied Dole to Chester, where the Kansan made his speech at a new housing development where three-bedroom homes sell for slightly more than $100,000. He said a balanced budget would lower interest rates and make homes dramatically more affordable for the middle class.
It was a big day for residents of the Pheasant Run neighborhood. About 80 neighbors crowded the street as Dole, leading a flock of reporters and Secret Service agents, toured a home and gave a speech on the front porch of a house under construction.
That one-story dwelling belonged to Keith Lynch, a 31-year-old meteorologist who recently bought it for $109,500. He would have preferred a nearby two-story house going for $120,000 but decided the price was too steep. Had interest rates not risen by a percentage point this year, Lynch said, he could have afforded the house of his dreams.
Not that Lynch is complaining. "This is all very exciting," he said minutes before Dole dropped in. "It hasn't really sunk in with me yet."
Lynch said he was inspecting his home Tuesday when "a couple of guys in suits" from the Dole campaign asked if he would mind them using his house for the speech.
Dole also mentioned the Allisons, a couple from nearby Hopewell who just had a baby girl and want to move to a larger home. "We're trying to find anything we can," said Mark Allison, a wastewater treatment plant worker who pulls in all of the family's income of $31,000. "Interest rates are the key factor. If they go down, we can do it; if they go up, it's over."
It was also a good day for Warner, who stood by Dole's side as the television cameras whirred. "A picture's worth a thousand words," Warner said, beaming.
"You've never in the history of mankind seen a senator endorse a challenger to someone who is another member of the club," Miller said in a campaign stop Tuesday in Danville, referring to Dole's support of Warner, the Senate incumbent.
Over the weekend, Miller won a straw poll of delegates at the state Republican convention. Conservative activists have been angry over Warner's refusal to support two recent GOP state nominees - home-schools advocate Mike Farris for lieutenant governor in 1993 and Iran-Contra figure Oliver North for Senate in 1994. Miller warned that Dole's appearance at the fund-raiser could offend activists and threaten his chance of carrying Virginia's presidential vote this fall.
Of Warner, Dole said: "He does a great job. We've been in the Senate together for a long time. He's a real conservative."
Miller accused Warner of nosing in on the trip to be seen with Dole. Ken Stroupe, a spokesman for Gov. George Allen, said Dole had planned the trip several weeks ago. "I became aware that Senator Warner would be involved yesterday," Stroupe said Tuesday.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Sens. Bob Dole (center) and John Warner campaignby CNBTuesday in Chester. Dole promoted a balanced budget amendment.
color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS