THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By TIM CURRAN
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., is no longer sitting on the sidelines waiting to see whom the Democrats will pick to oppose him in their May 7 primary.
With three weeks until Democrats choose between his 1990 opponent, African-American architect Harvey Gantt and newcomer Charlie Sanders, Helms has launched television ads skewering both.
All three are now on the air as Democrats once again try to topple the patriarch of the modern Congressional conservatives who now dominate both chambers.
Gantt, 53, is the first black to attend Clemson University, former mayor of Charlotte, and a national celebrity from his first race against Helms. Sanders, 64, is a medical doctor and former chairman of pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Inc. who moved to the state just a few years ago.
They are in harmony on the issues of the day and that's surprising since Sanders was expected to provide a moderate contrast to Gantt's liberalism. But after Sanders and Gantt shared the stage for their first televised debate Wednesday night, the Charlotte Observer reported that the two ``staked out nearly identical positions.''
At issue in the primary, Democrats say, is who is best positioned to beat Helms, seeking his fifth term in the Senate at age 74.
Both Democrats have demonstrated their fund-raising prowess, and the nominee is certain to be well-funded through November (Helms' opponents generally become magnets for out-of-state contributions).
Helms reaped more than $2 million in 1995. He put some of that money to use last week with his new ads that slam both possible opponents as liberals, while seeking to define Sanders in particular.
The National Media-produced spots hit hot buttons on social issues, charging: ``Liberal Charlie Sanders supports racial preferences in hiring, like Harvey Gantt does. Extending health insurance to homosexual partners? Liberal Sanders and Gantt say yes.''
Although the new Helms ads attack both Democrats, Sanders supporters say there is evidence that they are more heavily weighted against their candidate. Sallie Stohler, communications director for the Sanders campaign, called the new spots ``typical Jesse Helms distortive attack ads'' and added: ``They're definitely aimed at Charlie.''
To back that up, Stohler noted that the spots show Sanders's face ``twice as much'' as Gantt's, and cited the pattern of the Helms television buy. She said it is concentrated in the Greenville and Greensboro markets, where Sanders expects to draw much of his support, but that Helms did not buy time in Charlotte and Asheville in the western part of the state, which is Gantt's base.
``Jesse Helms is going after us so we must be moving'' in the polls, Stohler said.
Gantt also blasted the ads, calling them ``lies and distortions,'' and issued a statement denying that he favors racial preferences and saying he has never even addressed the question of extending health care benefits to homosexual partners.
In addition to his media campaign, Helms also has hit the campaign trail, appearing at several Lincoln Day dinners around the state and joining Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., at an event in Salisbury, N.C.
In the Democratic contest, Gantt started with a huge advantage in name recognition that Sanders is only now whittling down with his television advertising. Gantt began his own television spots Wednesday.
In trying to catch Gantt in the primary, Sanders has employed a 30-minute infomercial aimed at filling in voters on his background in addition to conventional 30-second ads.
Sanders media consultant Tom Oppel said the infomercial - which features testimonials from voters, business people, former Sanders associates, and moderate state political figures such as former Sen. Terry Sanford (D) - is running two to three times a week in each of the state's media markets. It is accompanied by 30-second promotional ads stressing his expertise on health care and his interest in improving education.
Republicans watching the Democratic battle say it is too close to call, but acknowledge that Sanders has momentum.
``I wouldn't hazard a guess at this point,'' one state GOP official said last week, while crediting Sanders with running ``a heads-up campaign.''
``Sanders is coming on,'' he said. MEMO: This article is from Roll Call, an independent, nonpartisan newspaper
that covers Congress. by CNB