THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 31, 1994 TAG: 9410310023
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE AND DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Notes from the past few days of the U.S. Senate campaign: Shake that groove thing
Charles S. Robb was caught in a stiff guy's worst nightmare Friday night.
He found himself standing alone on the dance floor at an NAACP convention when the disc jockey let loose with the frat party song, ``Shout.''
Robb had two choices: cut and run or cut the rug.
He made his best stab at the latter, shuffling his feet and flapping his arms like a chicken on an electric fence. The audience laughed and cheered him on.
``He's got no rhythm,'' one woman chuckled, ``but he's funny.''
The next day, Robb, 55, took some ribbing from reporters who witnessed his booty-shaking performance.
``My wife said, `It's time for you to get off the dance floor; you haven't learned a new dance since the 1960s,' '' he said. A very vocal supporter
Oliver L. North acts like anyone with a microphone and an earplug is out to derail his campaign on the airwaves, but at least one well-known broadcaster is backing him up.
Adrian Kronauer, the famed ``Good Morning Vietnam'' disc jockey, appeared at a North rally Friday, chiming his famous line and cracking jokes about Robb, Marion Barry and Hillary Clinton.
``Goooooooood evening, Virginia,'' he began his short speech.
The former Vietnam War celebrity, short of stature but still long in the lungs, told the crowd the first thing he will say the morning after the Nov. 8 election.
``Goooooooooo,'' he intoned into the microphone for nearly a minute - so long your face almost turned red listening - ``ooooooood morning Senator North,'' he finally finished. Have cup, will travel
Independent J. Marshall Coleman has developed a secret vice on the campaign trail this fall - the yuppie coffee bars springing up across the state.
Whenever Coleman is in Roanoke, for instance, he makes a point of sipping a cup at Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea. In Northern Virginia, Coleman visits the Starbuck's chain - in fact, he taped an interview for McNeil-Lehrer in one.
Coleman and his wife, Patty, even have a special code they've developed. She'll call him on his car phone and inquire as to his ``DFS'' - ``distance from Starbuck's.''
There's just one problem: Coleman is trying to hide his passion for high-priced java from his mother back in the Shenandoah Valley.
``My mother would kill me,'' he says, ``if she knew I was paying $3 for a cup of coffee.'' Tough times on the trail
The boisterous throng of North supporters oft-times referred to as ``Ollie's Army'' has repeatedly shown how enthusiastic they can be.
At least one of them can be downright mean, too.
During a North campaign rally in Falls Church Friday, four Robb supporters interrupted a speech by waving signs and chanting, ``We want Chuck.'' They were quickly silenced by the crowd, and later complained to police that two of them had been assaulted.
After the rally, 24-year-old Robb supporter Mirna Aceituno was sobbing and clutching her arm, which she said was bruised during the melee.
A large, loud, lumbering man wearing a blue ``Ollie'' sticker walked up to her and laughed.
``Aww, did they hurt the poor Robb baby?'' whined the man, who would not give his name.
Aceituno broke into tears. ``I just thought this was America and I could say how I feel,'' she said, still crying. ``I just wanted to let them know not everyone is for North.'' MEMO: Staff writer Dwayne Yancey contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: SENATE RACE CAMPAIGN CANDIDATE by CNB