ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606120053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE AND ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITERS
NOTE: Above
THEY CAME FROM different walks of life but shared one goal: Nominating John Warner as the GOP candidate.
Judy Krump considers herself a political independent, but that didn't stop her from casting a ballot for U.S. Sen. John Warner in Tuesday's Republican primary.
"He has a good reputation, as far as I'm concerned," Krump said outside the Centerville precinct in Virginia Beach. "He's looking more at the total concern for Virginia than following the party line."
crossing party lines to support Warner.
"I'm a Democrat, but I've always voted for Warner," Harrison said after voting at the Mount Vernon precinct in Roanoke County. "I've always voted for him, and I'm always going to vote for him."
The results in the GOP primary suggested there is a method to Warner's willingness to thumb his nose at the far-right members of his own party.
"Clearly, he has played both sides against the middle," said Ray Allen Jr., a conservative consultant who worked for GOP challenger Jim Miller.
Warner has counted on his crossover appeal ever since he strolled to the Senate in 1978 on the arm of then-wife Elizabeth Taylor.
His command of the political center was in awesome display Tuesday. There were no scientific exit polls, but interviews at precincts in Hampton Roads, in the Roanoke Valley and the New River Valley suggested he whipped Miller with the support of moderate Republicans, a swath of independents and a smattering of Democrats.
Warner's supporters, reveling in the Grand Ballroom at Richmond's Jefferson Hotel, crowed that his victory exposed the Christian conservative wing to have limited appeal.
"This victory completely discredits the hard-core conservative wing of the party, and shows the average voting Republican actually has an entirely different view," said Don Moseley, a former Republican district chairman from Buckingham County.
"They've done a very good job of taking over the party structure, but when it comes to the votes they can't win - they don't have the support of the voters."
In an almost somber acceptance speech, Warner avoided using the term "Republicans" when describing his supporters. Instead, he thanked "all Virginians" who came to his aid.
Later, as he worked the crowd, Warner deflected questions when asked if his win sent a message to the party's conservative wing.
"It was a good, positive response from all segments of Virginia," is all he would say.
At a Holiday Inn across town, at a Miller rally, conservative activists refused to accept the primary results as a statement on the popularity of their anti-abortion rights, pro-gun views.
They blamed the loss on what they described as Warner's coy appeal to independents and Democrats.
"His genius was making this a general election, as opposed to a Republican primary," said Ray Allen, the Miller consultant.
In a brief concession speech, Miller said the lopsided results were not a repudiation of Christian conservatives, gun enthusiasts or Oliver North, who made a last-minute appeal for Miller.
The result, he said, showed the power an incumbent politician has to raise money from special interests.
Miller, using humor to lift his dejected supporters, recounted his phone call a few minutes earlier to Warner. "I told him, `I started out to whup you, and you whupped me.'
"Since I am a loyal Republican, I am going to support John Warner this fall, and I ask you to do the same."
There were other signs that Virginia's Republican leadership is ready to unite behind Warner: Party Chairman Randy Forbes leaped to Warner's side just after his acceptance speech. Gov. George Allen issued a Warner endorsement as soon as the results were announced.
But some conservatives said they will find it hard to get excited about a Republican they consider a traitor.
"Unlike the senior senator, I always support the Republican nominee," said Trixie Averill, a GOP activist from Roanoke County. "Enthusiasm does have different levels. I'm not ready to go to work on his campaign staff."
Staff writers Michael Croan and Wendy Grossman contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Jim Miller reacts to his loss to incumbent Sen. Johnby CNBWarner on Tuesday night at Miller's campaign headquarters in
Richmond. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS