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By JOHN GOOLRICK
Back in the early 1970s, when he was a young Marine stationed at Quantico, Oliver North sent his kids to the same elementary school in Fredericksburg that my grandchildren now attend.
Some of the folks remember Mr. North working at the school-sponsored Bingo games, just as many parents do today, to reduce the price of tuition.
North has come a long, long way since then, as I can attest from these past few months when I’ve seen him at least a dozen times at campaign stops in various parts of the state.
No matter what anyone thinks of him from a standpoint of philosophy or his participation in IranContra, North’s political skills are nothing less than superb.
He has said time after time that the present races for state-wide office and the House of Delegates must be the focus until after the November election, and the way he has gone about campaigning practically guarantees his nomination by the Republican party for the U. S. Senate next year.
Across the length and breadth of Virginia, North has shown up to raise money and votes for the GOP statewide ticket and its legislative candidates. His star appeal added to various cocktail parties and chicken dinners has pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars and earned him the gratitude of countless party activists who will have big voices in the selection of the Republican senatorial nominee in 1994.
And the fact that North is a nationally known celebrity who often guest hosts on such conservative radio talk shows as those of Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy do nothing to hurt his chances for the nomination. ' Though everyone has known he will be a candidate, North did not make it official until last week when he filed certain papers with the Federal Election Commission. And even then he noted that the papers had to be filed to comply with legal requirements and that his major emphasis would continue to be on this year.
The fact is, though North is a controversial figure and there are Republicans out there who shudder at the prospect of his nomination, it’s just about a done deal.
The State Central Committee has already decreed that the nomination will be done by convention not primary, a made-to-order ruling favoring North.
There are reliable reports that some of the top
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