THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411050663
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY DENNIS PATTERSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Republican congressional candidate Walter Jones Jr., who has skewered his opponent in campaign ads for ``running around'' with President Clinton, did a little running with Clinton, too, Democrats said Friday.
Jones said a photo of him shaking Clinton's hand and wearing a ``Clinton for President'' button was taken in December 1991 before he switched to the Republican Party and before he knew much about Clinton.
Jones has gotten a lot of mileage from a television ad that shows incumbent Democratic congressman Martin Lancaster jogging with Clinton. The ad says Lancaster is out of touch with the 3rd District because of who he has been ``running around'' with in Washington.
``This photograph exposes Walter Jones Jr. for what he is - just one more opportunistic politician,'' state Democratic Party Chairman Tommy Hendrickson said at a news conference where he unveiled a blow-up of the Jones-Clinton photo.
Hendrickson said it was ``politically expedient'' for Jones to appear with Clinton in 1991, when he was preparing to run for Congress as a Democrat in the 1st District. After losing a runoff primary, Jones switched to the Republican Party and backed Republicans.
Now that he's running as a GOP candidate in the 3rd District, where he doesn't live, it's expedient for him to attack Clinton, Hendrickson said.
``It's one thing, Mr. Jones, to change your mind, to change your party, even to change the district where you run,'' Hendrickson said. ``It's another thing to try to manipulate the facts for the sake of political expediency.''
``This picture illustrates that Walter Jones Jr.'s change in party was because of bitterness and obsession, not philosophy,'' Lancaster said in a prepared statement. ``Bitterness that the Democratic Party had rejected him and his obsession to be a member of Congress. He will do or say anything to win.''
Jones said he remembered having his picture taken with Clinton at a fund-raiser. But he said he did not remember a $250 contribution to the Clinton campaign, which Federal Election Commission records indicate he made.
``What I remember about it, I was given a ticket by a supporter,'' Jones said. ``. . . I'm almost positive that the ticket was bought in my name and given to me.''
But he said he would not name the ``prominent Democrat'' who gave him the ticket.
``It is no secret to anyone that I was a Democrat,'' he said. ``As a Democratic candidate, I attended functions for many people, and Bill Clinton was one of them.''
Jones said he was not impressed with Clinton at the fund-raiser and decided to begin opposing him.
``As everyone knows, during the general election in 1992, I publicly endorsed and supported George Bush,'' Jones said. by CNB