TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=94TT0415> <title> Apr. 18, 1994: A State Of Instability </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1994 Apr. 18, 1994 Is It All Over for Smokers? </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> POLITICS, Page 40 A State Of Instability </hdr> <body> Ghosts from their pasts torment Chuck Robb and Oliver North in Virginia's bizarre Senate contest By Laurence I. Barrett/Richmond The state of Virginia honors its traditions faithfully, preferring, in its genteel political combat, mediocrity over notoriety. But this year's Senate race, starring the wounded Democratic incumbent, Charles Robb, and his probable Republican challenger, Oliver North, of Iran-contra fame, competes with the soaps for sensationalism. Tales of sexual adventures and charges of mendacity were already staples when the subject of mental instability popped up last week. "This is the most bizarre race in the state's history," says Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, an expert in ugly campaigns. "To have two scandal-drenched candidates is a breakdown of Virginia's norms." James Miller, once Ronald Reagan's Budget Director, scrambling to overtake North in the fight for the Republican nomination, is willing to try anything to tar North as untrustworthy. Last week Miller made public voluminous personal records--including medical and financial data--while challenging North to do the same. That would remind voters that the former Marine officer was hospitalized 20 years ago for emotional stress. The ploy also revived rumors, which North denies, that he somehow expunged mention of that therapy from his Marine dossier before he joined Ronald Reagan's National Security Council staff. Miller scored some points by reinforcing North's image as a shredder of documents and deceiver of Congress during the Iran-contra fiasco. But when a reporter asked Miller about his own mental health, he acknowledged a family history of mood disorders. His aides later said Miller consulted a psychiatrist after his father died. North was soon chortling that his opponent's "strategy of character assassination has backfired." But far more damaging than any shot Miller has fired is the assault against North by party elders. Most adamantly opposed is John Warner, who along with some other Senate Republicans would rather not have the mercurial North as a colleague. North is so unfit to serve in Congress, Warner says, that a "Republican white knight" should enter the race as an independent if North gets the nomination. Warner and his colleagues also elicited a letter from Reagan, for whom North lied to Congress and shredded key documents, attacking North's account of Iran-contra--particularly North's published assertion, in 1991, that "President Reagan knew everything" about the scheme. "I am getting pretty steamed about ((North's)) statements," Reagan wrote. The steady assault on North's character has hurt his standing; a recent poll by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research showed Miller tied with Robb among all voters, while North trailed the incumbent by 17 points. But the Warner circle does not control Virginia's party apparatus, which will select the nominee at the state convention in June. North's militance appeals to the dominant, conservative wing of the state G.O.P., and his vigorous fund raising over three years for local Republican groups has won him many grateful friends who will serve as convention delegates. On the Democratic side of the race, voters have been treated to salacious accounts of Robb's behavior. While Governor (1982-86), Robb frequently spent weekends at Virginia Beach without his wife Lynda. He has since been haunted by tales of cocaine-scented parties attended by young women with few inhibitions. When Robb's Senate aides investigated the charges, they recorded their findings in private memorandums. The papers depict the Governor as having oral sex "with at least half a dozen women 20 to 25 years his junior at random times." His assistants also obtained information indicating that Robb had associated with "people who were heavy drug users and served federal prison sentences on...drug-related charges." Robb vehemently denies use of drugs or even being present when others used them. But last month, preparing his formal campaign launch as the Washington Post was about to publish the staff's findings, Robb drafted a six-page statement aimed at stifling the issue. "For a period of time in Virginia Beach," he conceded, "I let my guard down, and when I did, I also let Lynda down. But with Lynda's forgiveness, and God's, I put that private chapter behind me." Some voters do not see it that way. In a recent poll the man once considered a prospect for national office got an "unfavorable" rating of 37%, vs. 35% "favorable." Democrats fear there could be more revelations to come. "Their concern," says Professor Robert Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University, "is that the guy's a ticking bomb." Still, Robb faces weak opposition from three little-known challengers in his party's June primary. And the Clinton White House has signaled its preference for him. But even if none of his obscure challengers gathers steam, Robb is not assured of a clean shot in the general election. His longtime foe, former Governor Douglas Wilder, would like nothing better than to send Robb back to lawyering. Wilder has been grumbling that Virginians deserve a better choice than Robb vs. North. If they win their parties' nominations and Warner succeeds in inserting a conservative independent, Wilder may enter as a Democratic independent. With strong backing from black voters, Wilder could easily be the front runner by Labor Day. And then Virginians will have a really strange show to watch. </body> </article> </text>