THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110309
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEC KLEIN AND ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
In the span of five hours Monday, Oliver L. North proclaimed that ``Bill Clinton is not my commander-in-chief,'' then explained that he wasn't really disowning the president but said he still thought Clinton was ``boneheaded.''
Democratic incumbent Sen. Charles S. Robb, building a campaign depicting his Republican rival as out of control and unable to distinguish the truth, seized the moment.
``That seems to me to be additional evidence of the kind of extreme position that we simply cannot tolerate,'' Robb said. ``If he says it and he means it and he believes it, it is a very irresponsible statement, it is an extreme statement, and the potential consequences of that kind of approach to public policy are dangerous.''
North, who called Clinton ``boneheaded'' and a ``yahoo'' in a speech last week, dismissed the president as commander-in-chief at a morning news conference in Norfolk. By the late afternoon, at a Richmond news conference, North said he only meant to say that he doesn't have to take orders now because ``I'm not in the military anymore.''
But North, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, also claimed that recent defense cuts ``tempted'' Iraqi President Saddam Hussein into sending troops toward Kuwait. And those cuts, North said, came ``in large measure thanks to Chuck Robb.''
``The hollow military that Bill Clinton has created with the help of Chuck Robb has tempted despots like Saddam Hussein to go beyond where they know they should go,'' North said.
Robb fired back, suggesting North had endangered U.S. soldiers by undermining the presidency and questioning the military's ability to repel Iraqi forces against Kuwait.
``It undermines soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who are being placed in harm's way,'' Robb said.
Even as the two were exchanging blame, however, Iraq was reportedly preparing to withdraw its troops. That left North to take flak from military experts, who blasted his depiction of weak armed forces.
In recent weeks, North has been plagued by self-inflicted wounds, shooting from the lip only to have to clarify controversial statements, deny he was quoted correctly or claim he was quoted out of context.
To control further damage, North's handlers have recently persuaded their candidate to keep media questions focused on the issue at hand.
North has done as much in hammering Robb as a Clinton-clone who votes with the president 95 percent of the time. Robb has been careful about his ties to Clinton, using the president to raise money but recently tiptoeing from Clinton's unpopularity.
On Monday, Robb finally disputed North's 95 percent figure, saying he actually votes with the president about 80 percent of the time.
``He uses a figure that suits his purpose but may not necessarily be accurate,'' Robb said. ``Factual accuracy has not been the hallmark of his campaign.'' MEMO: Staff writer Warren Fiske contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE U.S. SENATE RACE
by CNB