THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 14, 1996 TAG: 9610120032
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 44 lines
Absalom and King David (aka Mark Warner and John Warner respectively) debated Sept. 29 over who would be Virginia's best choice for Senate.
While there was no time to go into enormous detail, some facts are clear: Mark Warner came to Virginia from northern environs in the early '80s, built up a very successful business and became a millionaire. Now he is after a new toy, a seat in the U.S. Senate. He has never been elected to any office but is rich enough to finance an expensive political campaign.
Mark promised to expand government services while not raising taxes. But to me his most astonishing idea was that if elected he would establish a ``committee'' to study how to cut government spending. A committee? Give me a break!
The experienced John Warner rightly pointed out that the deficit must be cut in order not to rob our children of their future and sometimes painful decisions must be made. But we do not have to guess at what John Warner stands for because we have 18 years of his distinguished service to examine.
We all know how courageously he opposed convicted felon Oliver North in his quest for Virginia's highest office. This was done at great political danger to John Warner.
But one act of nobility to Warner's credit that I have never heard mentioned is that he did not try to oust Strom Thurmond as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, something Warner might have been able to do, according to pundits, based on Thurmond's age. But again, Senator Warner played by Senate rules and his conscience.
John Warner does not overpromise. He knows we are going to have to face some tough budget cuts in this country to save Medicare, Social Security and other entitlement programs.
For Virginians, who are dependent on the presence of the military in our state, having Sen. John Warner so experienced in defense matters and perhaps the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee in the event of Senator Thurmond's retirement, should make the choice between the two Warners a no-brainer.
Let's don't replace King David with a young Absalom simply because Absalom wants the job and can afford to pay for an expensive campaign.
DORIS MOZLEY
Norfolk, Oct. 1, 1996 by CNB