THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409100188
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH MONROE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Independent U.S. Senate candidate J. Marshall Coleman appeared Friday on the site of a canceled Chamber of Commerce forum to attack Sen. Charles S. Robb for turning down and scuttling the event.
He challenged Robb to attend ``at least seven debates with all four candidates and let the people decide.''
Coleman stood alongside three empty chairs, in which signs for L. Douglas Wilder, Oliver L. North and Robb had been placed, and characterized the absent candidates as ``the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tinman.''
``Chuck Robb has once again turned his back on the people of Virginia by backing out of the Hampton Roads Forum,'' Coleman said. ``And Oliver North, the brave combatant, followed him out the door.''
Coleman said Robb's ``clumsy effort to deny Virginians the chance to see all the candidates is simply arrogant. It's politics as usual.'' Coleman said Robb was trying to create the illusion that only he and North are legitimate candidates. Instead, Coleman insisted, they were unfit to hold office. ``By their conduct in public office, they betrayed the public trust.''
If Robb refuses to debate, Coleman said, he would be willing to appear with the other candidates. ``I'll debate any and all.''
For Coleman, an end to debates would be damaging since it would tend to restrict the campaign to dueling television commercials. Coleman said, ``We're going to have TV, too.'' But the deep pockets of Robb and North would allow them to dominate the airwaves. Coleman called on the press and the people to insist on debates so voters have a chance to hear a complete airing of the issues by all the candidates.
``Chuck Robb and Oliver North are spending millions of dollars trying to change their images. Their goal is to try to make themselves appear to be different from what they really are. Because if the people realize what they really are, then they'll never be elected.''
In other campaign news, North held a news conference Friday afternoon at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center to endorse the city's efforts to tap Lake Gaston as its source of drinking water.
The city's decade-long battle to build a 76-mile pipeline to Lake Gaston was delayed indefinitely this summer when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that it would conduct an environmental impact study before determining whether to authorize the project.
North said Robb should pressure President Clinton to overturn the commission's decision. ``Chuck Robb has carried a lot of water for his fellow Democrat, Bill Clinton,'' North said. ``It's time he got the president to repay the favor. All Bill Clinton needs to do is pick up the phone and free the pipeline.''
KEYWORDS: SENATE RACE CANDIDATE by CNB