Jesse Helms' death comes as no surprise, since his health had rapidly declined after he retired from the U.S. Senate in 2002. Yet it's fitting that he died on the Fourth of July. Helms was a disgrace to North Carolina and the nation, and what better time to celebrate our independence from the bigoted, hate-filled politics he stood for. Helms was the dominant political figure in North Carolina from the early 1970's until his retirement. For more then a decade before that, he had been the leading conservative voice in the state as a radio and television commentator for Raleigh's WRAL network. After his election to the Senate in 1972, he started a political operation called the National Congressional Club that pioneered the use of direct mail fundraising techniques to build a nationwide base of fervent conservative supporters. In the process, Helms helped reinvigorate the national Republican party, laid groundwork for the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, and became the far right's most infamous spokesman. Helms urges Christians to get political in a 1980 promo spot for the Moral Majority During Helms' heyday, the question on many people's minds about North Carolina was how could its citizens keep re-electing an extreme right wing, unrepentant segregationist, self-proclaimed "rednecks" like Helms? The perception was that the state was filled with racists, or that Helms' voters were ignorant and uneducated. The reality is more complex. For ...
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Jesse Helms' death comes as no surprise, since his health had rapidly declined after he retired from the U.S. Senate in 2002. Yet it's fitting that he died on the Fourth of July. Helms was a disgrace to North Carolina and the nation, and what better time to celebrate our independence from the bigoted, hate-filled politics he stood for. Helms was the dominant political figure in North Carolina from the early 1970's until his retirement. For more then a decade before that, he had been the leading conservative voice in the state as a radio and television commentator for Raleigh's WRAL network. After his election to the Senate in 1972, he started a political operation called the National Congressional Club that pioneered the use of direct mail fundraising techniques to build a nationwide base of fervent conservative supporters. In the process, Helms helped reinvigorate the national Republican party, laid groundwork for the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, and became the far right's most infamous spokesman. Helms urges Christians to get political in a 1980 promo spot for the Moral Majority During Helms' heyday, the question on many people's minds about North Carolina was how could its citizens keep re-electing an extreme right wing, unrepentant segregationist, self-proclaimed "rednecks" like Helms? The perception was that the state was filled with racists, or that Helms' voters were ignorant and uneducated. The reality is more complex. For ...