Knocking Off the New Right

THE ELECTION OF RONALD REAGAN and the Republican sweep of 1980 apparently boosted Sen Jesse Helms (R-N-C.) to an unusual position of power on Capitol Hill. An uncompromising far-right polemicist, Helms was given an unanticipated opportunity to peddle his extreme views on abortion, school prayer, and busing. His tirades against anyone left of the conservative hard line, along with his habit of harassing the White House over any displays of moderation, have earned the senior senator from North Carolina a reputation for fearless advocacy--dangerous to anyone who crosses his path.

The national media have eagerly fed upon this reputation, providing Helms with the awed coverage that inflates a politician's ego and image. But the fearsome scion of the New Right has actually proved a far less effective legislator than is commonly assumed. More prudent colleagues from both sides of the aisles have so far blocked his crusade to mold the constitution to his vision of a God-fearing country. His initiative on prayer and abortion have faltered, and the sweeping anti-busing bill he pushed through the Senate has not received a friendly welcome in the House.

Helms has so angered other senators and congressmen with his scornful brand of confrontational politics that in 1981--despite his leadership of the Agricultural Committee--Helms had to rely on the Senate's Republican leadership to win that traditional North Carolina constituent service, pork barrel tobacco price supports. And his opposition to the appointment of several moderates to high State Department posts had little more than a symbolic impact.

Of course, the doom-mongering ideologue that he is, Helms actually expects to lose a lot of the battles he fights. But the New Right's leading light may be in more serious trouble than he realizes, not in the Senate but where the votes really count, back home in North Carolina. Helms has recently suffered his worst setback in years, as all the candidates he suported in congressional elections were defeated--despite extensive financial and personal help. As a result, serious questions have been raised about Helms own domination nation of North Carolina, and his political future seems very cloudy indeed.

In particular, his sophisticated political organization seems to have lost much of its lustre. The hallmark of that machine is the National Congressional Club, the richest political action committee in the country. Armed with a hefty war chest built up by direct mail fundraising, the club has backed Helms proteges around the country with money and technical assistance, utilizing the negative advertising tactics now common to the New Right. Its most significant victory was the 1980 election of archconservative John East to the second Carolina Senate seat. Although the incumbent. Robert Morgan, was no liberal, a blitz of last-minute television ads attacking his support of the Panama Canal Treaties, and to Niearagoa New York, and a few other conservative hobby horses made the guy seem like Tip O'Neill's left-hand man.

BUT WHAT WORKED IN 1980 collapsed in 1982. Again Jesse Helms went to bat for like-minded candidates personally supporting and campaigning for five Republican congressional challengers. His Congressional Club flooded its efforts with cash and cut-rate prices for consulting, media, and direct-mail help. Yet all the time, energy, and resources went for naught, as all five of Helms lieutenants lost, with all but one getting slaughtered.

The candidates going down to defeat included.

* William Cobey, a former University of North Carolina athletic director, who tired to oust a five-term representative with a media based campaign budgeted in excess of $500,000:

* Harris Blake, who rapped his opponent again and again for his liberal stances on abortion, school prayer, and forced busing:

* Red McDaniel, a Vietnam War veteran who attempted to portray incumbent Charles Whitley as an unrepentant fool of the Democratic leadership.

Analysts have attributed these defeats--along with bouncing two GOP incumbents out of office--to the issue that dominated state races around the country; the economy. The Democrats wanted to draw clear distinctions on issues like unemployment and social security, making the elections a veritable "referendum" on Reaganomics, notes Gary Pierce, press secretary to the Democratic governor James Hunt, who campaigned hard around the state for the party's slate. No surprise here.

But it is significant to note that the supposedly omnipotent Helms couldn't push any of his candidates through, notwithstanding the state of the economy, Consequently, the elections should be viewed as a partial repudiation of the campaign tactics of groups like the Congressional Club. Democratic polls accordingly credit some of the sizable pro-Democratic vote to a strong reaction against tough negative advertising, key to the Club's style.

Moreover, the election outcomes in North Carolina and other states around the country cast considerable doubt on the New Right's implicit claim that it can win races merely by tossing enough dollar bills around. "Jesse Helms has very little to show for his $9 million," raised for the elections, notes one Washington Democrat. Indeed, in state races everywhere, the New Right threw away its money in futile attempts to knock off legislators like Maryland's Paul Sarbanes, Massachusetts Ted Kennedy, and Michigan's Donald Riegle.

BUT THE RECENT ELECTION'S most significant impact is Helms precarious personal position. Democrats are fancifully anticipating an excellent 1984 opportunity to knock down the New Right's leading bully.

All signs are pointing to the popular governor Hunt making a run for Helms' seat, Hunt, a moderate who has won two landslide gubernatorial elections, is widely credited with helping the Democrats statewide and putting together an impressive "get out the vote" effort. Certainly not a flaming liberal--he backs capital punishment, for example--Hunt nonetheless has proved a strong civil rights supporter, has sought jobs aggressively for state workers, and in general is a forceful pragmatist who can start to unify the fragmented Democrats.

Helms, of course, will be no pushover, and he has shown no signs of throwing in the lower. He's got loads of money, a mean political savvy, and a down-home folksiness that has hypnotized Carolina voters. Said one of Helms' political strategists to a North Carolina newspaper: "The battle (with Hunt) has yet to be fought...Out of adversity comes strength."

Some have speculated that Helms' ambitions extends beyond his state borders, and with the Hunt threat, he may well make a 1984 bid for the vice-presidency or even the presidency. In fact, if he so chose. Helms could probably head a third party ticket of disgruntled ultra-conservatives, since his political organization already packs the necessary money and shadow structure.

But if he does decide to stick it out in North Carolina, Democrats should be gunning hard for the Senate's number one demagogue. Though as the incumbent Helms must be considered the favorite, he is ripe for defeat. Moderates and liberals, therefore, should not pass up this ideal opportunity to put an official end to this ideologue's mystique. It is time to throw the rascal out.