THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 7, 1996 TAG: 9610070036
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY DENNIS PATTERSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, N.C. LENGTH: 80 lines
The dinner is a common sight on the campaign trail - 200 people at small tables eating chicken and a long head table filled with political candidates.
But the speech by the evening's keynote speaker, Republican gubernatorial candidate Robin Hayes, is anything but traditional campaign fare.
``I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ,'' Hayes said as he stepped to the microphone, drawing warm applause from members of the Beaufort County Christian Coalition.
Hayes outlines his 1978 conversion after reading a tract his wife had gotten at a Bible study course. She insisted he read the prayer at the end of the tract, known to fundamental Christians as the ``sinner's prayer'' asking for salvation.
``My burning bush experience wasn't as dramatic as some,'' Hayes tells the group. ``It wasn't that big a deal at the time, but as I look back, it had a dramatic effect on my life.''
One of the effects was moving from evangelism circles into politics, which Hayes said God had shown him could be a mission field.
But it's a mission field where religion is rarely discussed and candidates generally don't talk about their faith in such personal terms.
Hayes acknowledged the risk at the Christian Coalition dinner, saying he had sometimes been branded with ``the big-E word'' - extremist.
And he had gotten advice, he said, to steer clear of the subject.
``They tell you not to talk about this, not to talk about that,'' he said. ``Eventually all that's left is a political shell, that's all there is. But I've got to be what I am.''
He said there were many times when he thought about ending his campaign, that running for governor was just too hard a task for a candidate who got into state politics just four years ago when he won a seat in the state House.
But he said every time those doubts and fears arose, he received unexpected encouragement that he was doing what was right.
``We lost our way at times,'' he said of the down times. ``We forgot who we were.''
Hayes won his spot on the November ballot by defeating former Charlotte mayor Richard Vinroot in a Republican primary. Vinroot, who had the support of party veterans, appeared nearly unbeatable when Hayes announced he was running.
But Hayes steadily chipped away at Vinroot, questioning his stands on issues like abortion. His campaign was funded in part with family money. He is a grandson of the late Cannon Mills president Charles Cannon.
Hayes, an affable man who owns a hosiery mill in Cabarrus County, has so far had less success at gaining on James B. Hunt Jr., who served two terms as governor in the late 1970s and early 1980s before winning a third term in 1992.
Hunt, who faced no primary opposition, has been on television since the spring with ads touting his positions on crime, education and deadbeat parents. Hayes began his fall television ad campaign two weeks ago with his first ads since the May 7 primary.
Everywhere he goes, Hayes reassures supporters that the race is winnable, despite recent poll numbers that show Hunt with a 26-point lead.
``We're in the fourth quarter and it's time to suck it up and get it done,'' Hayes, a former football coach, told a Moore County crowd at a Republican rally.
``It's time to start building up, revving up and get focused on what's going on out there.''
He regularly repeats the same themes he used in his primary campaign - better schools, safer streets, less government and stronger families. But the state needs results, he argues, not ideas for new programs.
``You and I and our families and our businesses are not about goals,'' he said. ``We're about results.''
Those results, Hayes says, whether in crime, public education, or other problems from the state, will spring from inner values. But he cautions his Christian supporters that they cannot force others to accept those inner values.
``We've got to have some humor,'' he told the Beaufort County crowd. ``We've got to stand up for what we believe in the right way.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Robin Hayes
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