THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407170085
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
The three challengers to U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb ganged up on him Saturday night during their second debate, calling his first term in Congress lackluster and criticizing his support of a Clinton administration tax increase in 1992.
An exasperated Robb replied that his opponents are proposing ``sound bite'' solutions to the nation's economic problems by endorsing lower taxes and greater defense spending while offering no specific cuts to federal spending.
``You can't always do it by taking the easy decision,'' Robb told his opponents during a 90-minute debate at The Homestead resort sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association. ``Sooner or later, you have to belly up to the bar.''
The front-running Robb likened the debate to ``three-on-one tag-team wrestling.''
The incumbent Democrat drew the wrath of his opponents by repeatedly declining to say whether he supports a bill that would allow companies to permanently replace striking workers. His three opponents said they support the legislation, which has been mired this year in a Senate filibuster.
``How would you vote?'' demanded former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who is running as an independent.
``If it ever comes up again, Doug, you'll find out,'' Robb said. ``I'm sure it will come up again in the next six years.''
``You won't be there then,'' snapped Wilder. ``. . . The people of Virginia have a right to know how you would vote.''
Robb, in return, said that Wilder's current support of striker replacement is a flip-flop. In 1991, when he was running for president, Wilder told the AFL-CIO that ``it makes no sense for someone to lose their job because of exercising a constitutionally protected right . . . And for management to say, `As a result of exercising that right you're fired,' I'm against that.''
Wilder, who was running fourth in a recent poll, also turned a sharp tongue toward Robb while debating health care. While all four candidates said they were opposed to mandating that employers provide coverage for their workers, Robb added that ``hard-triggered or soft-triggered mandates'' eventually may be necessary.
``A soft trigger or a hard trigger means the same,'' replied Wilder, who said any mandate will force companies to lay off employees. ``Someone is going to get shot and someone is going to get killed.''
The candidates also disagreed over whether abortion should be included in a national health care plan. Republican Oliver L. North and independent J. Marshall Coleman said it should not. Wilder favored leaving the decision up to individual states. Robb said abortions should be included as part of a national plan.
Robb was the only candidate who said he would be willing to consider letting the Food and Drug Administration classify nicotine as a drug. His opponents said that limiting the availability of cigarettes would cost Virginia thousands of jobs and lead to billions of dollars in lost revenue.
``The Clinton administration is saying we're going to pay for a health care plan by taxing tobacco and the same time we're going to make it illegal,'' North said. ``That's a bit of an anomaly.''
Coleman labeled Robb as a leading liberal in the Senate, comparing him to Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio. He noted that Robb has supported President Clinton on 94 percent of his votes. ``If you're simply going to vote for with the president all the time, why do we need you up there?'' he said to Robb.
Wilder also directed some of his biting rhetoric toward North. ``Ollie, you don't represent what's best for Virginia,'' he said. ``You want to divide. You think certain people should be thrown out and only people who think like you should be advanced.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos Coleman
North
Robb
Wilder
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES DEBATE by CNB