THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040714
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GOLDSBORO LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
What was billed as a Republican rally turned into something akin to an old-fashioned gospel tent revival Thursday, thanks to one of the elders of the American conservative movement.
Sen. Jesse Helms was greeted by shouts of ``Amen'' and ``Tell it Jesse'' when he told a crowd of about 350 at Wayne Community College that Tuesday's election is a ``battle for the soul of America,'' and that the best way for conservatives to win the battle is to vote for Walter Jones Jr.
Jones, a Farmville Republican, faces incumbent Democrat Martin Lancaster in the race for North Carolina's 3rd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
``We pray, but we have to do more than pray,'' Helms told the crowd in Lancaster's hometown, many of whom held up signs reading ``Limit Lancaster, Not Guns,'' and ``Clinton and Lancaster, What A Team.''
``We're in a fight on Tuesday, but this is not a political fight. It's a battle for the soul of America.''
Helms challenged the crowd, telling them it is time for conservatives to ``fish or cut bait.''
He blamed Democrats for the huge federal deficit.
``We can't stand to keep that crowd (Democrats) in Washington another two years,'' he said. ``Liberals are nice people. They'll ask you how your family is and all that, but they'll dang sure spend your money.''
Helms also attacked Democrats who he claimed ``have forgotten why they were sent to Washington'' and blamed what he called ``the liberal news media'' for not reporting the truth on Democratic voting records.
``They (Democrats) are counting on the liberal news media covering up their deceit and fraud, when they come home and talk one way, and go back to Washington and vote the other,'' he said.
``If you like the way things are going,'' Helms said, ``don't vote for this fellow,'' pointing to Jones. ``But if you want a change, vote for Walter Jones.''
Helms called Lancaster, a Goldsboro native, ``a pleasant enough fellow'' but added, ``We're not in the market for a pleasant enough fellow to run our government. We need somebody who's going to stand up and fight, using every weapon.''
Helms then held up a Bible, and to a cheering crowd shouted: ``This is the best rulebook for preserving a country we can have.''
Helms responded to his critics by borrowing a phrase from a Morganton man named Lum Garrison, a friend of the late North Carolina Sen. Sam Ervin.
``Lum said to Sam, `Sam, don't pay no attention to them. Them people don't know nothin' and they got that tangled up.''
Regarding the Jones-Lancaster scrap, which has been bitter at times, Helms said: ``It's not necessarily a battle of personalities, it's a battle for the survival of this country.''
Helms closed with a story about Benjamin Franklin, who urged feuding delegates at this country's first constitutional convention to pray before continuing their debate. Four days later, Helms said, the difficulties were resolved, and America had its document.
With the room hushed, and with some in the audience wiping away tears, Helms said that following the approval of the Constitution the elderly Franklin walked to the street, where he was stopped by awoman.
``The woman grabbed him by the jacket, and said, `Dr. Franklin, what do we have?' Franklin looked at her and said, `We have a republic. . . if we can keep it.' That's the challenge. Are we going to keep the republic, or are we going to let it slide down the slippery slope?''
Jones, speaking before Helms, accused Lancaster of taking the campaign ``down in the gutter'' with negative advertising that Jones claimed ``distorts'' his record in the North Carolina General Assembly. Lancaster ads have accused Jones of missing one-third of the votes cast in Raleigh during his five terms in the House, a charge he vehemently denied.
``Thank God the people on the street don't watch TV and they don't believe what they see,'' Jones said. ``I have never, ever dreamed that I would be in a campaign where it got so down in the gutter. And it couldn't get much worse than the people who put those ads on. I guess I'll call them sewer rats, because that's about what they are.''
Jones accused Lancaster of trying to ``mislead, fool, and lie to the voters.''
``I will put my 10 years of service up against anyone who served in the General Assembly,'' he said. ``If I had missed a third of the votes, I would have missed over 3,000 votes. If you don't think that would have made the front page of the N and O (The Raleigh News and Observer). . . ''
Jones said the campaign is about the future of the country, and blamed Democrats for increasing the budget deficit and reducing America's military readiness.
``We need a balanced budget. We have a deficit of $4.5 trillion. We're talking about working people taking more money home than sending money to Washington. We're talking about welfare reform. We're talking about true crime legislation to protect honest citizens,'' Jones said.
Jones also accused Lancaster of ``chipping away'' at citizens' Second Amendment rights through his support of the crime bill. Lancaster has said he opposes the assault weapons ban that was included in the Clinton-backed crime bill.
Jones said the vote ``punishes the good, honest citizens of North Carolina who believe that he or she has the right to own a gun or a rifle.''
On defense, Jones said North Carolina's military bases have nothing to fear from the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure Commission), but instead should be afraid of ``liberals like Mr. Lancaster, voting to cut the defense budget,'' which he called the ``real threat'' to national security.''
Jones called for a heavy turnout on Tuesday. Like Helms, he touched on religious themes.
``People want a change,'' he said. ``People are tired of the lies coming out of Washington. They're tired of broken promises. They want somebody to stand up for the basic principles that made this country great, not to be ashamed of standing up for Judeo-Christian values or prayer in schools.''
Jones read a passage from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, and said ``With God's help, we will win this election.''
KEYWORDS: ELECTION NORTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGNING by CNB