Monday, May. 06, 1996

WHO CAN TAKE HELMS?

By Jesse Birnbaum

Of all the Tarheels of North Carolina, nobody has more tar on his heels than Republican Jesse Helms. At 74, Helms has served in the Senate for 23 years, and has got himself so happily stuck there as a leading proponent of archconservative values that he appears virtually inextricable.

It would seem the height of cockeyed optimism for anyone to try to unshoe him; yet not one, but two cockeyed optimists are contending in North Carolina's Democratic primary next week for the sporting honor of challenging the Senator when he runs for a fifth term in November. One is Harvey Gantt, an architect and former two-term mayor of Charlotte who pulled off a respectable 47% to Helms' 53% of the vote when he tried to dislodge Helms in 1990. The other is Charlie Sanders, a millionaire physician, educator, onetime pharmaceuticals executive and a newcomer to politics.

Apart from the fact that Gantt is an African American, there is little to distinguish one candidate from the other. Gantt, 53, is a self-made man and an experienced civic leader; Sanders, 64, is a heart specialist, an eminently confident sort of suture-self surgeon.

Sanders is an example of several neophytes who have been drawn into politics by Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Kerrey is convinced that there is not enough new blood among his fellow Senate Democrats and so has persuaded successful, energetic businessmen like Sanders--among them Oregon's Tom Bruggere, South Carolina's Elliott Close and Idaho's Walter Minnick--to challenge Republican candidates.

That explains why Sanders is in contention, although (as Sanders admits) voters who try to discern sharp ideological distinctions between him and Gantt will be disappointed. As a result, the primary race is mainly a battle of images. Gantt, who grew up poor, lards his campaign speeches with inspirational stories about his ill-educated, hardworking father (a mechanic) and his "Mama [who] fed us values." Sanders, who taught medicine at Harvard, ran Massachusetts General Hospital, became vice chairman of Squibb Corp. and later CEO and chairman of the giant pharmaceutical company Glaxo, presents himself as a serious, concerned authority figure.

Gantt's people argue that Sanders, who until recently was a registered independent, is nothing more than a faux Democrat. "He seems to have found his issues based on some kind of sophisticated campaign model," says Gantt campaign manager Jim Andrews. "I'm not sure he believes any of it." Nevertheless, Sanders' advertising campaign has been effective, quickly driving up his name recognition from 20% to 60%. "I'm someone who knows health care, education and business creation," he says. "Been there, done that." Says Ted Arrington, professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte: "Sanders' ads hit all the right chords. People see that he's a CEO and an M.D.--that he has the stature to beat Helms."

Part of what irks the Gantt crowd is that Sanders has not practiced medicine in 15 years, yet appears in some TV ads wearing a doctor's white coat. But what most offends Gantt's camp is Sanders' claim that he is the more electable of the two because he is not a politician. "The Democrats have sent four candidates up against Helms," Sanders says, "and all of them have been politicians [who are] very easy marks for Jesse. It's harder for him to label me." To Gantt, the subtext of Sanders' argument is "corrosive"--it says that a white candidate has a better chance of beating Helms than a black candidate. "Race has no place in this campaign," Sanders insists. In any case, the race question may be complex in this situation, not least because Gantt has always had strong biracial support: he won the mayoralty of Charlotte when its electorate was 80% white.

With the campaign in its final days, neither candidate can claim a commanding lead. Gantt has the advantage of being a known quantity, having run statewide before. And the wealthier Sanders has a financial edge--he has spent almost $3 million so far, more than half of it his own money. What will happen in November is equally uncertain. North Carolina has long adhered to the 45-45-10 rule with respect to Helms: 45% of the electorate will always vote for him and 45% against him; the winner will be the one who picks up most of the remaining 10%.

But Helms can no longer count on that rule. North Carolina has changed dramatically since 1990. Helms' base, the older generation of white voters, who are more conservative and thus less likely to vote for a black candidate, has declined in number, while an estimated 500,000 newcomers have settled in the state. The new arrivals, even those who are Republican, says Paul Luebke, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, "frequently draw the line at Helms." The Senator can only hope that drawing the line in tar will be hopeless exercise.

--Reported by Adam Cohen/Raleigh

With reporting by ADAM COHEN/RALEIGH