North Carolina Politics
It's a shame really. The state that was once known for Senator Sam Irvin seems condemned to be known forever for Jesse Helms, without a doubt the worst US senator in modern history. But there is hope on the horizon.
How many times have I heard "I may not agree with ole Jesse on everything but at least I know where he stands." No. You don't. You may hear what he says and think you know where he stands but Helms invariably voted with big business and against the interest of the common people he represented. With his homespun persona and ability to remember people's names it is understandable that those who delve no deeper than the soundbites and election slogans would think
of
Jesse Helms as “one of them,” just like people think of George Bush as a simple Texas guy with a ranch. But in both cases this is a carefully crafted character, meant to get the support of stupid people. No, not conservatives. The fact that they are Republicans is enough to get those votes. They want to get the votes of those who think about politics as little as possible, who in ancient Athens might have been considered too uninformed to be allowed to vote. Those who supported ole Jesse because he was “jes lak
them,” needed only to look at the voting records to see where he stood on the issues
that affected them. But if North Carolinians looked at voting records then Cary would not have reelected John Carrington year after year since not only did he rarely show up for a vote, but he did not give interviews, did not do debates, and did not campaign in person. He just used his wealth to put out campaign commercials that seemed to do the trick. But I suppose it is difficult to find time for politics when you are trying to run a company that sells riot gear to the police and security organizations in 3rd
World countries, to keep the masses at bay. In this Carrington and Helms have much in common. Helms was a great supporter of the Salvadorian Death Squads that terrorized that country and it seems he never met a dictator he didn't like. So much for being a man of the people. Thankfully they are both out of the political picture. Yes now we have Elizabeth Dole but I see her more as a cheer-leader than an actual leader. She seems like a nice person and if she ever stands up for her Republican principles instead of following Bush and Company as they lead us down a path of self-destruction I might even vote for her one year. Well, probably not.
But anyway these are the worst aspects of North Carolina politics. We also had Senator John Edwards, though we barely got to know him before he started running for president. Personally he has my vote. He has worked harder at becoming president than anyone and his politics -which include getting out of Iraq, a health care system that could actually work, and help for the nation's poor who seem to be growing in numbers – are in agreement with mine and most people in Chapel Hill/Carrboro, though who knows about the rest of the state? I met John at his end-of-the-road party at Milltown Restaurant in Carrboro and I have to say that he comes off better in person than he does on TV. I asked him if he had to choose between Attorney General, Secretary of Labor or Mayor of Carrboro what would he pick. "Mayor of Carrboro sounds like a lot more fun", he told me. You see what an astute politician he is? Thats the perfect answer. Like he is not seeking the office, but if offered it he would not turn it down. Well whether he is my next mayor or my next president I am behind him.
I can't complain too much about North Carolina politics since I live in Chapel Hill/Carrboro and my representatives are David Price and Ellie Kinnaird who are both terrific. We also celebrated Dennis Kucinich Day when he became the first presidential candidate in history to visit the town of Carrboro in April of 2004, though I think it was a one-time event. I don't think we celebrate it every year like Martin Luther King or Christmas. But being progressive is a part of our history. On May 6, 1969, Howard Lee became the first African American mayor elected in a predominantly white southern town since Reconstruction when he won in Chapel Hill. Lee served three terms as mayor and received 64 percent of the vote in the 1971 election, and 89 percent in 1973. in 1995 Mike Nelson became Carrboro, N.C.'s youngest mayor and the south's first openly gay mayor. No wonder ole Jesse hates us so much. But just as many people in rural North Carolina are told who to vote for by their preachers and their habits, in the Triangle area many people go to the polls with a scrap of paper cut out of the weekly Independent magazine that tells them who to vote for and accompanying articles that tell them why. But the magazine is capable of knee-jerk liberalism in their choices too as shown by their endorsement of DA Mike Nifong whose aggressive prosecution of the Duke Lacrosse players, (despite a lack of evidence and perhaps withholding evidence that would have proven their innocence), was clearly a move to keep his support in the black community and had many of us thinking about Tawana Brawley and Al Sharpton rather than a servant of the people vs the sons of the rich white oppressors. In some cases no endorsement is better than making one as the lesser of two evils.
North Carolina is a Democratic state. What? It’s true. Most people would rather give up their firstborn than join the party of Lincoln, who is seen differently down south. Still, in national elections they vote Republican, and Bush won easily in 2000 and 2004 over Gore and Kerry. However in Chapel Hill/Carrboro it was Gore and Kerry by landslides. As for the war in Iraq, while it seems there are almost weekly demonstrations in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill), in the rest of the state – even though people may be against the war for the simple reason that their children, brothers, sisters, friends and relatives are getting killed and maimed – many refuse to believe that our president would get us into a war under false pretenses, or the sacrifices of our troops is reason enough to stay on so they will not have died in vain. But even that seems to be changing, as the government seems more inept and Iraq continues to spiral out of control with family members stuck in the middle. Even the most devoted Bush supporter is forced to ask "What the &%$@ is going on?" There are still those who believe that protest and the divisiveness that threatens to tear the country apart sends a bad message to our boys in Iraq. But in my opinion there are two ways to support the troops. Either bring them home to their families, or join up yourself. To wave the American flag or have it stuck on your gas-guzzling Ford Expedition is not supporting the troops. It is supporting the Saudis while hiding behind the flag.
Hopefully, what is happening in much of the country is happening in North Carolina. As it gets harder to get by, people are paying more attention to government out of necessity. If you find yourself working harder and making less, then something is wrong somewhere and a good place to look is at the people who are supposedly representing your interests in Raleigh and Washington. If you are against the war, believe big business has taken over and runs the government because they own politicians, and believe that rich people paying less taxes than poor people is basically unfair, then you will support candidates who are on your side. For the most part, that is the Democrats and independently thinking Republicans. So there is hope that North Carolina, a Democratic state, will once again return to that party, unless all the rich Republicans moving down here for the golf courses take over.
So that's it in a nutshell. But as I said, in Carrboro we celebrated Dennis Kucinich Day while much of the state still grumbles about Martin Luther King Day. But one day I predict we will be the progressive state we claim to be and we will send senators to Washington that we can be proud of. Like Dean Smith maybe? Or Tommy Lagarde! Or maybe me. After all I was endorsed by the Athens News as a candidate for mayor of Athens, Greece. If the pundents think I could fix everything that is wrong with Athens, then North Carolina will be a breeze.