North Carolina's Costly Catfight

By Ed Magnuson

The Helms-Hunt Senate race could be the most expensive ever

People tend either to love or to hate Jesse Helms. Across the nation there are those who see the ultraconservative Republican as mean-spirited and sanctimonious. But back home in North Carolina, Helms is generally beloved as an outspoken champion of patriotism and oldfashioned social mores. The dilemma for the state's voters is that they also admire James Hunt, their two-term Democratic Governor, who is much less rigid in ideology and far more practical in his politics. Now North Carolinians must choose between the two as Hunt challenges Helms for his Senate seat.

In one sense, the head-on collision between the state's two most powerful politicians is a clash of the New South vs. the Old. Hunt, 46, is a consensus seeker and problem solver. Though he has little flair for oratory and not much of a sense of humor, his following ranges from impoverished blacks to progressive educators and white businessmen struggling for economic growth. Even Republicans concede that Hunt has run the state well, attracting $13 billion in new business investment, adding 207,000 new jobs, improving roads and schools.

The colorful Helms, 62, wields highly charged oratory as a nationwide clarion for the right. "The Soviets are out for blood everywhere in the world," he says on the stump. His invective is peppered with humor: "I was standing on the Capitol steps when an empty cab pulled up and Walter Mondale got out. I even saw Ted Kennedy with his hands in his own pocket."

Both Helms and Hunt support a sustained military buildup, the MX missile and B-l bomber and stronger conventional forces. They oppose a nuclear freeze. Both back a constitutional amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools.

On more peripheral and personal matters, however, the campaign is downright nasty. "We knew it would be hateful and mean and expensive," says Betty McCain, Hunt's campaign chairwoman. Helms began a TV, radio and mail attack more than a year ago. It accuses Hunt of waffling on issues and tries to goad him into taking a stand for or against the presidential candidacy of Jesse Jackson. Hunt, wisely, has not yet done so, since he would lose votes no matter what position he took. Helms' aim is to portray Hunt as a tool of out-of-state liberals, among them Fritz Mondale, former New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug, labor unions, gay activists and gun-control advocates.

Hunt has responded with a smaller, lower-key ad and mail drive. It cites Helms' votes against restoring minimum Social Security benefits, tax credits for the elderly and larger tax cuts for the middle class. One TV spot claimed that about 75% of the campaign funds Helms raised last year came from out-of-state sources. In fact, both campaigns have attracted large donations from a variety of nation-wide groups, based mainly on their strong sentiments for or against Helms.

So far, the Senator's negative campaigning seems to be working. While statewide polls showed Hunt leading Helms by 20 percentage points last October, the most recent polls place them in a virtual tie, although a crucial 10% are undecided. The polls also show that 36% of the state's Democrats, who outnumber Republicans 3 to 1, say they may vote for Helms. "Helms caught Hunt off guard," contends University of North Carolina Political Scientist Merle Black. "Hunt needs to confront Helms on these misrepresentations, which are a modern version of the old whisper campaigns."

On the campaign trail, Hunt has tried to ignore the Helms attacks and stress his own achievements as Governor. "We will take our lumps right now, lay out our organization and get the campaign going on our terms," explains Hunt Press Aide Stephanie Bass. "If they can talk us into punching the tar baby, they've got us." Hunt has developed a strong supporting machine through a patronage system affecting about 4,800 state jobs and appointments. He describes the race as probably one between "a moderate and a reactionary." The Helms strategy, on the other hand, is to draw the lines so the fight is seen as one between "conservative and liberal, plain and simple," says Helms' campaign adviser Tom Ellis. Helms insists that he has not run a mean campaign. "He's a personable fellow," says the Senator of the Governor. "I'm not giving him hell. He just thinks it's hell."

All the rhetoric is proving almost obscenely expensive. Helms raised $4.4 million last year and an additional $2 million in the first quarter of this year, and is expected to spend perhaps $14 million by November. Hunt has taken in just half as much so far and claims that he will spend only about $5 million. Still, that would make it the most expensive Senate race in history.

--By Ed Magnuson.

Reported by Joseph N. Boyce/Raleigh

With reporting by Joseph N. Boyce