A shirt-sleeved Oliver North tried to distance himself from the three "professional politicians" running against him in the first televised debate of Virginia's fractured U.S. Senate race.
Sen. Charles Robb, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and former state Attorney General Marshall Coleman kept their jackets on during a 90-minute free-for-all on CNN's "Larry King Live."The four mostly kept the gloves on as well, despite repeated invitations to discuss Democrat Robb's heavily publicized peccadilloes or Republican North's controversial role in the Iran-Contra scandal.
For about half the debate, the four answered questions posed by King; the second half was devoted to questions called in by viewers.
Coleman, a Republican, and Wilder, a Democrat, are running as independents. Both said they entered the race because Virginia voters were not satisfied with their major party candidates.
Once a highly popular governor and rising political star nationally, Robb, who is married to the late President Lyndon Johnson's daughter Lynda, has been tarred by his admitted marital indiscretions and reports that he partied with drug users. He has denied any knowledge of drugs.
North has been plagued by polls showing many voters have doubts about him because of his Iran-Contra activities. North was convicted by a federal jury of lying to Congress about the arms-for-hostages deal. The conviction was later overturned by a federal judge.
In response to questions from King, Robb and North insisted they bore no ill feelings toward Wilder and Marshall for entering the race.
The two also defended their characters, with Robb saying his admission of marital indiscretions showed he "had a couple of dents in my armor," and North saying he has always kept his commitments.
"I'm the only person at this table besides you who has not spent their entire adult life running for office," North said to King.
"I spent almost 10 years on active duty in the Marine Corps. I didn't think that I was running for office at that time," Robb responded.
"It's a classic illustration of the colonel not really being familiar with my record," Wilder said of North, noting that for most of his career he was a lawyer and part-time legislator before being elected governor in 1989.