Posts Tagged ‘Jesse Helms’
Hunt, Helms and MLK
I was struck last week by Republican politicians posting tributes to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., even as they fight everything he stood, marched and died for. Forty years ago, in 1984, the King holiday was a big issue in the Senate race between Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt. Helms opposed the holiday. He filibustered…
Read MoreA Flash of Lightning
A year into the toughest campaign I was ever in when Jesse Helms trailed popular Governor Jim Hunt by 25 points, Arthur Finkelstein walked into my office, dropped a poll on the table, looked from me to Tom Ellis, pursed his lips. “It’s time you two learned something new.” Arthur pointed to the 4-inch-thick poll…
Read MoreHow Much Hate?
Frank Bruni wrote in The New York Times this week that Lt. Governor Mark Robinson’s candidacy for governor would raise “the question of how much bigotry and divisiveness Republican and independent voters in North Carolina are willing to endorse, indulge or be persuaded to overlook.” Well, North Carolina elected Jesse Helms (pictured) to the Senate…
Read MoreKing, Trump and Helms
My blog “President Shithead” irked a TAPster who worked for Jesse Helms (not Carter): “I don’t mind when you pick on my old boss, but saying he’s part of a string of Trumps… that’s hitting below the belt.” That is pretty low. But is it justified? Well, Martin Luther King Day is an appropriate day…
Read MoreHelms and Trump
Rob Christensen recently noted “a number of parallels” between Donald Trump and Jesse Helms. (“Trump, like Helms, rode populist streak as outsider”). But another parallel deserves attention. Read on. Rob wrote: “Both Helms and Trump were plain-spoken populists who gained much of their support from blue-collar workers and from people living in rural areas. “Both…
Read MoreWRAL’s climate change
Greg Fishel says he took a while to change his mind on climate change. Then he got a quick lesson in politics. Richard Stradling wrote in the N&O (“Climate change reversal puts brighter spotlight on weatherman Greg Fishel”): Fishel’s change in thinking has showed him how divided Americans are on this subject and others. It…
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