THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 11, 1994 TAG: 9407110028
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Although Republican congressional candidates Kyle McSlarrow and Thomas M. Davis III endorse Oliver North's challenge to U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb, their support for North this fall will be tepid at best, Republican activists said.
Supporters say that's because both McSlarrow, the challenger to Rep. James P. Moran Jr., D-8th, and Davis, who is taking on Rep. Leslie L. Byrne, D-11th, need the votes of moderate and unaligned voters in the Washington suburbs.
``Ollie North is far from middle-of-the-road, and this area is middle-of-the-road, a la Tom Davis,'' said Nancy Falck, a Fairfax County Republican who served two terms on the Board of Supervisors.
``The media coverage of North is not going to be favorable and will create a lot of negatives that are likely to land on all Republican heads,'' Falck said. ``I'm hoping Tom is well enough known that people won't align him with Oliver North. He just doesn't need an anchor around his neck.''
Lorretta Herrington, a Davis supporter from Prince William County, said Davis ``is sensitive to Oliver North - he has to remain above the fray.
``We need to keep Tom's identity separate,'' she said. ``We need to run against Leslie Byrne. We don't run a race against Oliver North.''
David Johnson, executive director of the Virginia Republican Party, said Northern Virginia is ``the only place where we've had any hand-wringing'' about North.
Looking statewide, ``it's not a question of not playing well as much as a concern as to how he plays in Northern Virginia, frankly The Washington Post readership area, where there's been a constant barrage of anti-Ollieism,'' Johnson said.
``I can overcome the disability at the top of the ticket,'' McSlarrow said. ``I try not to think about the Senate race. I'm trying to remind people of the congressional race.''
At the 1992 Republican national convention, Davis said a Senate campaign by North would be a ``disaster for the party'' and called North ``unelectable'' in 1994. But he said last week that North was ``not a significant factor'' in his congressional race.
``There's not a drag factor down,'' Davis said. ``To tie the two of us together is very difficult.''
North dismissed talk of any party schism developing in the month since he defeated James C. Miller for the nomination.
``I do not detect a sense of, `Well, I'm not going to back you,' '' North said of Miller's supporters, many of whom were concentrated in Northern Virginia.
North did say the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington are a ``very difficult climate and a very difficult area for Republicans and conservatives,'' largely because of the presence of The Washington Post and the area's proximity to the District of Columbia, which is overwhelmingly Democratic.
Johnson said North will contribute to a state GOP coordinated campaign effort called Conservative Majority '94, which hopes to raise as much as $1 million for lawn signs, bumper stickers, brochures and mailings featuring North and congressional candidates.
Robb, D-Va. and a first-term senator, is also being challenged by independent candidates L. Douglas Wilder and J. Marshall Coleman. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo
Legionnaire Roger Messier, lower right, listens as Oliver North
addresses the American Legion's annual state conference Saturday in
Richmond. Many veterans at the gathering said they were leaning
toward North in the Senate race. But within the GOP, skepticism
about North's popularity remains, as do questions about what effect
he'll have on others running on the GOP ticket.
KEYWORDS: REPUBLICAN PARTY CANDIDATE
by CNB