THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 31, 1994 TAG: 9410310047
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS AND ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
State Republican Party Chairman Patrick McSweeney charged on Sunday that a double-standard allows black ministers to endorse political candidates over the airwaves, while white ministers would likely be investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for doing the same thing.
Citing a U.S. Senate race endorsement of Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb during a televised Sunday service in Richmond last week, McSweeney asked: ``Can you imagine what would have happened if that had been a white church?
``The IRS would be down checking on their tax-exempt status. All their books would have been pored over.''
McSweeney, whose comments came in an interview at the close of a rally for GOP Senate nominee Oliver L. North, said he is not accusing the minister of the Trinity Baptist Church of violating any law by urging his congregation to back North's opponent.
But the statement was ``a paid commercial as far as I was concerned. . . . I guarantee you we would have been pounded if it had happened on our side.''
McSweeney's remarks continued an assault launched Friday at a press conference. Asked at the event why North was not attending a state NAACP convention that evening, the chairman voiced frustration over the inability of Republicans to win substantial black support.
McSweeney attributed the failure to Democratic distortions, ``walking-around money'' and the influence of a few powerful black leaders. He said it was not cost-effective for Republicans to campaign for black support, particularly in the final days of an election.
``Walking-around money'' refers to cash paid on Election Day to workers who knock on doors, distribute literature and drive people to the polls.
McSweeney said that since Friday he's heard from a dozen or more black ministers and political activists who agree with him that the practice should be stopped. They are planning a press conference this week, he said.
``I'm fed up,'' he said, calling the planned press conference ``a wedge we might finally be able to use to get through'' to black voters.
Robb, in fact, spent Sunday morning in Richmond at the state's largest African-American church.
Robb and Rep. Bobby Scott both spoke to the congregation of the Cedar Street Baptist Church of God during a rousing service that included a sermon aimed at inspiring church members to vote.
Robb never mentioned his opponents specifically or asked members for support.
``I hope we will continue to vote tolerance over intolerance, I hope we will continue to vote our hopes instead of our fears,'' Robb said.
North had addressed the same congregation a week earlier.
Asked how North was received, the Rev. Dr. Benjamin W. Robertson, the church's pastor, smiled and said: ``We're Christians. We receive everyone with open arms.''
Like Robb, Robertson did not try to make a plea for the support of any one candidate. But he did praise Robb for his service in office, and told church members: ``Don't stay home because the persons who are running are not perfect.''
At the North rally, held on a Civil War munitions site along the James River in downtown Richmond, police estimated the crowd at up to 1,700 people. It was the last of five such events held by North over the weekend to fire up his troops for the Nov. 8 election. A similar rally earlier in the day in Roanoke produced an equal crowd, making the events the largest for a single candidate in recent memory.
KEYWORDS: SENATE RACE CAMPAIGN CANDIDATE ENDORSEMENT by CNB