THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090352
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines
Democrat Charles S. Robb on Tuesday overcame personal scandal, the unpopularity of President Clinton and the unprecedented fund-raising machine of his Republican opponent to win a second term in the U.S. Senate.
With 95.3 percent of the state's precincts reporting, Robb was polling 45.7 percent of the vote; North, 42.9 percent; and independent J. Marshall Coleman, 11.4 percent.
``We all three acquitted ourselves well,'' Robb said in a victory speech from McLean. ``I salute both Oliver North and Marshall Coleman on the occasion.''
North was emotional as he conceded defeat in Richmond. ``They will say that the hurt you and I now feel could have been avoided had we not joined this battle. . . (but) to not have tried would mean some afternoon in the autumn of my years I would have sat on a rocker on my porch and wondered, `Could I have made a difference?' '' he told supporters.
``The real consequence of this campaign is not just the results of today's ballot,'' he added. ``Your eagerness to bring about real change is not going to fade from the national political landscape.''
Robb won by impressive margins in the state's crucial urban crescent that arches from Northern Virginia through Hampton Roads, where 70 percent of the state's population resides. Turnout was high with almost two-thirds of the state's registered voters casting ballots, more than 10 percent above a typical election turnout.
Although North carried the rural areas of Southside and Southwest Virginia and the Piedmont Valley, it was not by the large margins he expected.
From the start, the race was about the character of the candidates. North faced questions abouthis honesty stemming from the Iran-Contra affair. And Robb was under heavy fire over allegations of womanizing and partying with undesirables when he was governor from 1982 to 1986.
In the end, however, voters overwhelmingly decided that Robb was more trustworthy than North. Of those who said honesty and ethics was the most important issue in the race, Robb outpolled North 61 percent to 19 percent, according to an exit poll by Cable News Network.
Sixty percent of those who cast ballots told CNN that North's conduct in the Iran-Contra affair was an important factor in their vote. In contrast, only 40 percent said they considered Robb's personal conduct to be an important issue.
``When all was said and done, Iran-Contra was simply too big a weight around Ollie's neck,'' said Thomas R. Morris, a political scientist who is president of Emory & Henry College.
North's efforts to link Robb to Clinton - he constantly stressed that the Democrat had supported the president in 94 percent of his Senate votes last year - did not hit home with the electorate.
Forty-seven percent of the voters who participated in an exit poll conducted for The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star by New York-based Mitofsky International said their vote ``had nothing to do with Bill Clinton.''
And of those who said the president was a factor in their vote, Clinton proved to be almost a wash. Twenty-two percent said they voted in support of the president; 29 percent said they voted against him.
A decisive factor in Robb's victory was his capturing 86 percent of the black vote. His support from African Americans was galvanized by a late endorsement from former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder.
Wilder had long feuded with Robb and had at one point entered the Senate race as an independent. He had said Robb was ``unfit for office,'' but refused Tuesday to take credit for the Democrat's victory.
``I'm not interested in who gets credit,'' he said. ``It was President Dwight Eisenhower who said you can get just about anything done if you don't care who gets credit for it.''
Wilder added that state Republican Chairman Patrick McSweeney galvanized the African-American vote last month when he said that the GOP did not find it ``cost effective'' to court black voters. ``I think Pat McSweeney, in saying that, enraged a lot of people,'' Wilder said.
Among white voters, North out-polled Robb by a 5-to-4 ratio, according to the exit poll.
Coleman, who offered himself as an untarnished alternative to the major-party candidates, apparently had little effect on the race. He carried no regions of the state, and exit polls suggested he drew votes equally away from North and Robb.
Coleman's campaign was strongly backed by Virginia's other U.S. senator, Republican John W. Warner, who denounced North as a liar and a felon. Warner drew the wrath of Republican leaders and put his career on the line by refusing to support his party's nominee. It is an open question whether Republicans will be willing to nominate Warner should he seek re-election in 1996.
Warner, who was frequently critical of the religious right that dominates the state GOP, offered an olive branch to Republicans Tuesday night.
``The party is still a very strong party in Virginia,'' he said. ``But what this tells us . . . is that the party better grow and be very careful and consider there are other perspectives, there are other voices.
``I'm not calling for heads to roll in the party,'' he added. ``I'm asking for minds to open up.''
North's honesty was questioned by many of his former White House colleagues, including former President Ronald Reagan, former first lady Nancy Reagan and former national security chairman Robert C. McFarlane. Retired military leaders such as Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff; and H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of Operation Desert Storm, also questioned North's character.
Despite the problems, North proved to be a riveting speaker and powerful fund raiser. Through a direct-mail enterprise, North raised $19 million in contributions - a record for a U.S. Senate race. Most of the money came from outside Virginia. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
In victory, Chuck Robb abandons stoicism. Tuesday night - surrounded
by daughters Cathy and Jennifer; wife, Linda; and daughter Lucinda -
he celebrated.
Photo
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
With his wife, Betsy, at his side, Oliver L. North concedes defeat
Tuesday night in Richmond. Exit polls suggest North's populist
appeal was drowned out by voters' concerns about his honesty.
Graphics
Color photos
U.S. SENATE
Photos
Robb
North
Charles S. Robb (D) 921,513
Oliver L. North (R) 869,849
J. Marshall Coleman (I) 230,544
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA RESULTS by CNB