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8The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, April 25, 1984 Jl.lF HlDAY, Uxor JOi l BROADWAY, Maiiaoitto Editor MlCHAI 1 TOOLK, Editorial Paoe Editor FHANK BRUNI, Associate Editor Kl 1 1 Y SIMMONS, University Editor KYLF MARSHALL, Shite and National Editor Mf.LANIE WELLS, City Editor VANCE TrEFF.THEN, Business Editor STUART ToNKINSON, News Editor Frank Kennedy, sb Editor Jeff Grove, Am Editor ClNDY DUNLEVY, Features Editor CHARLES LeDFORD, Photography Editor JEFF NeUVILLE, Photography Editor The art of political performance Satin Star ni 92nd year of editorial freedom An overdue umbrella According to a report released Monday by the National Wildlife Federation, acid rain is no longer simply a problem up north around the Great Lakes it is steadily spreading into the Southeast and West and must be considered a national problem instead of a regional one. It is fortunate, if not calculative, that the report has been released just as Congress returns from its Easter recess, and that the committee work scheduled this week con cerns environmental bills aimed at sharp reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions. Utilities and other industries that oppose such measures question the environmen talists' assumptions and are suspicious of the timing of the report's release. Yet in spite of the dissent registered by opponents of the issue, it is vital that regulations be strengthened and made more stringent if the nation is to take responsibility for its environment-damaging waste. Environmentalists attribute acid rain primarily to the sulfur dioxide emissions from smokestacks which mix with moisture in the atmosphere and fall as rain or snow. During the persistent five-year debate, the coal and utility industries have produced their own scientists who claim, not surprisingly, that the link between emissions and damage is nebulous. They argue that recent information suggests normal rainfall might be more acidic than it was originally believed to be, and that some of the destruction in New England might have been caused by natural leeching of acidic materials into lakes. They claim that the cost of legislation backed by environmental groups could re quire hundreds of billions of dollars for a situation which is not as disastrous as everyone believes. Not disastrous? Apparently the degree of that word varies according to who is arguing. To some environmentalists, it is disastrous enough that high acid levels in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park may be causing the deterioration of Anakeesta rock formations. These same people find it frightening that acidity levels in Florida have increased dramatically during the last 25 years and have resulted in badly stunted growth and emaciation of fish. The West has also been affected. Monitoring water near Boonville, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay in California has shown sharp increases in acidity; however, much of the problem in this state has resulted from auto exhaust. Further evidence of harm from acid rain has been found in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which is considered vulnerable because of its thin soil and in ability to neutralize acid deposits. Moreover, rapidly increasing acidity levels in Colorado have been measured near the Continental Divide in Boulder. Such widespread examples of problems from acid rain substantiate environmentalists' pleas for stricter regulation of sulfur diox ide and nitrogen emissions. Regardless of the politics involved, making people aware of the seriousness of acid rain must be commended. Because of politics, the issue has been neglected for too long. As with so many other en vironmental issues, stricter regulations may increase expenses for some businesses, but they are crucial to the well being of our country. Whatever the reasons for recent action to counter the problem of acid rain, the action itself is welcome and long overdue. Sitting in the row of seats behind me last Thurs day evening in Carmichael Auditorium were a little boy, certainly no older than 10, and his parents.The boy was wedged between his mother and father, each of whom nudged him periodically and directed his attention toward the platform upon which Sen. Gary Hart would soon take his place. The boy's parents wore excited, eager ex pressions, and as they whispered to the boy, he shifted to the front of his seat and lifted a pocket instamatic camera from his lap. These three might have been at the circus or at one of the many basketball games played each winter in Carmichael. The boy's camera had pro ' bably chronicled trips to the zoo, excursions to amusement parks. I thought: How disappointed this little boy will be when he realizes that what his parents have brought him to is not some entertain ing spectacle, some frivolous diversion, but a political event, a social tradition, part of the framework of this nation's democracy. . 1 did not get a chance to see the expression on the boy's face as he left Carmichael; as soon as Hart uttered his last syllable, I was swallowed by a stampeding crowd much like the ones I recall from the concerts I attended as a teenager. But I had lit tle doubt that, had I caught a glimpse of the boy, I would have seen a broad smile on his face. In bring ing him to this event, his parents had a much firmer grasp on the kind of spectacle it would be than I, who attended in hopes of coming to better under stand Hart's views, apparently did. What I left Carmichael with was not more knowledge about where the candidate stood in regard to issues. Sure, I had been told what we as a nation "must do," what we "need." But I had no idea about how we were going to do what we must and get what we needed. Outside of some dozen phrases incorporating the words "new" or "vision" or "future," what I would later recall about the senator from Colorado was his physical appearance, his manner of speech. Hart is more dashing than photographs would have us believe; he's leaner and his facial expres sion is less severe. His voice, faintly hoarse from the rigors of campaigning, has a callow quality, which lends to the candidate a modest, uncertain air. He's got a wonderful, if practiced, stop-and-go style of speech; he comes out with one of his memorable one-liners, waits for the applause he knows is forthcoming, and then, upon hearing it, laughs nervously, as if he had been unsure that his audience would approve and is relieved that they indeed do. I take pains to mention all this because the point that was driven home to me Thursday night was that Hart's appearance and affectations are ultimately more important to his political survival than his policies and political priorities. It is not my intention to indict Hart of super ficiality; he's only playing the game of American politics by the rules that have, inexplicably enough, transformed political campaigns into traveling car- Frank Bruni The Ferret's Wheel nivals. What I find fault with is the game itself. On Thursday evening, those who trudged through the rain to Carmichael were "treated" to two musical performances, a rousing analogy drawn by former Student Body President Kevin Monroe between the past accomplishments of Carolina basketball and the future accomplishments of a Hart administra tion, and, finally, the candidate's own rhetoric, strewn with witticisms and placebo profundities. It was precisely what those attending a Mondale or a Reagan speech would have experienced. It was in no way an experience that illuminated what one might expect, specifically, from a Hart presidency, but few people in the audience seemed to mind. They were the all too eager consumers of the ban quet of hope and optimism Hart spread before them. What we seem to require of a politician is that he be an im maculate performer, that he allay our deepest fears, that he articulate in a moving fashion our greatest concerns. Disregard the notion as we do, largely because it's an ur flattering reflection of the democracy we so cherish, it's no matter of chance that the current president of the United States is a former film ac tor. What we seem to require of a politician these days is that he be an immaculate performer, that he allay our deepest fears, that he articulate in a mov ing fashion our greatest concerns. We don't seem to scrutinize candidates that closely, nor do they seem to worry much about providing us with the "beef by which we could make more informed appraisals of their legitmacy as candidates for political office. American politics have in many ways become the politics of showmanship, of histrionics. To secure a public office in this coun try, a politician need not worry so much about his knowledge of the issues, but about his ability to in spire hope in American people for solutions to those problems riddling the nation. In recent years, many historians have addressed the question of why those presidents most univer sally regarded as great belong, for the most part, to the distant past. Simplified, there are two explana tions offered for this situation. The first holds that the affairs of this nation have, over time, grown in creasingly complex and that the vastness of the concerns facing the presidents of the past decades all but forbids glory. The second points to the evolution of the media and the subsequent transformation of the presidency into an occupa-. tion undesirable to or unattainable by many of those who might, intellectually and morally, be best suited for it. One quick glance at last week's issue of Time magazine illustrates this second position and lends to it an undeniable credence. That issue tells us about the comparative blood pressures and serum cholesterol levels of the remaining candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination. The infor mation seems irrelevant, but it's not. Today's politician has concerns above and beyond national and foreign affairs. He needs good health, stamina, charisma. He needs to be emotionally willing and physically able to give up his privacy and surrender himself to a life in the public spotlight, a life lived inside airplanes, buses, small town gymnasiums, big city concert halls. He needs to be able to sell himself. Good looks don't hurt. Endearing affecta tions (Reagan's irresistible smile, Hart's Ken nedyesque posture) go a long way. That is not to say that each and every politican who chooses to run for a major office considers on ly these superficial qualifications when gauging his chances for success. But how many would-be Washingtons or Lincolns have relinquished such a dream because they shunned the rigors of cam paigning, rigors not really related to the private pressures of the important decisions made in run ning arguably the most influential nation in the world? Similarly, how many candidates have lost bids for public office because their qualifications for the job did little to serve them in the pomp and pageantry of today's political campaigns? It is regrettable that it means more to the American voter that a candidate visit his county for 15 minutes a time period too brief for any kind of scrutiny or intimacy than that a candidate, perhaps from a distance, clearly delineate his goals and his methods and his concessions. It is cause for alarm when the American voter heeds primarily his visceral response, a response governed by a can didate's patterns of speech or physical appeal. Don't get me wrong; I like Hart, perhaps more than I should. I've leafed through his New Democracy and followed closely media analyses of his platform. That's precisely why I was so disturb ed by the spectacle Thursday evening. I somehow felt as if Hart were being debased, reduced to im pressive gestures and lofty promises. I applauded when he said that we "cannot stand four more years of keaganomics," but I also realized that we may well have to. Because Reagan boasts fairly low blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels. Because his enthusiasm is as contagious as it's ever been. Because in the circus of American politics, he remains the star clown. Frank Bruni, a sophomore English major from Avon, Conn., is associate editor of The Daily Tar Heel. The Governor's Race Rufus Edmisten Attorney General Rufus Edmisten plays the part of the country boy from Watauga County and the Raleigh bureaucrat equally well. It's become part of his campaign theme as a 'barefoot boy in a top hat," as exemplified in his 30-minute television documentary produced by political consultant Raymond Strother. Asked to recall some memories from his college days at UNC, Edmisten, who graduated in 1963 with honors in political science and religion, said: "One day I was working in Lenoir Hall carrying a huge stack of trays. I slip ped and they all fell , on me. I was within 10 minutes of a class so I rushed into a bathroom and washed off what I could. When I walked into my class my friends burst out laugjiing they thought I had fallen in to a garbage truck. 'No,' I told them, 'one fell on me.' " While he admits that he doesn't take himself too seriously, that's the way Edmisten takes his job as attorney general, which he has held since 1974. Under his leadership, the attorney general's office has taken a decided slant toward law en forcement, with the growth gqing toward sections such as the State Bureau of Investigation. According to Strother, Edmisten's proposal for a victim's bill of rights to compensate for losses inflicted by criminals, his support of the death penalty and a one-track appeals process for convicted murderers to prevent the last-minute flurry of appeals as in James Hutchins' case will find a sympathetic ear among North Carolina voters. Laucfy Faircloth Politicking in a bank, Duncan McLauchlin Faircloth walks up to a teller and thrusts out his hand. "Have you seen my TV commercials?" he asks her, grinning. "I know you," she says. "I know your face." Without batting an eyelash, Lauch that's what the commercials and friends call him Faircloth fires back, "Well next time you see it, honey, vote for it." When he began his campaign, he lacked the organization and the name recognition that Edmisten had. But slick television commercials have helped Faircloth edge within striking dis tance of Knox and Edmisten. The mes sage is simple: Lauch Faircloth can make the state a smooth running business. management experience. With his dealership and other business and real estate enterprises. Faircloth, who served more than six years as Gov. Jim Hunt's secretary of commerce, credits his industrial recruitment efforts with creating 185,000 new jobs and producing a state budget surplus of $400 million. Conservative opponents of Faircloth point out that, while a fiscal conservative, he favors state funding for abortions and the Equal Rights Amendment. Tom Gilmore Tom Gilmore's recent television ad began with the names of six Democratic candidates listed on a blackboard. One by one, five names are erased until Gilmore's is the only one left. An announcer said, "There's only one Democratic candidate for governor who's willing to do whatever it takes to improve our schools: Tom Gilmore." The ad is symbolic of Gilmore's adamant sup port for improved education in North Carolina. To this point in the long Democratic cam paign, he's been the only candidate to say he's willing to raise taxes, if necessary, to pay for improvements in education. "Our children's futures depend on the quality of their educa tion," he says. He's not alone in his sup port for im provements in educa tion, but he's probably come up with more specific proposals than any other candidate. For example, Gilmore wants a separate educa tion budget submitted to the General Assembly, to be voted on before the general state budget and the highway budget. He wants the pupil-teacher ratio reduced, and more base pay for all teachers. But he's opposed to merit pay and longer school days. What it all means to the former state legislator's campaign is that he appears to be the most liberal of the six major Democratic con tenders. Not only a possible tax hike for educa tion, but opposition to capital punishment and support for the Equal Rights Amendment result in a progressive agenda for Gilmore. Nothing is more dangerous in wartime, Winston Churchill said in 1941, than to live in the "tem peramental atmosphere of a Gallup Poll, always feeling one's pulse and taking one's tem perature." In 1984, the state of North Carolina is not at war. But that doesn't mean an intense struggle is not under way, as 10 Democratic politicians are fighting among themselves to gain their party's nomination for governor. Six of them are given a chance to win, while the other four are longshots at best. And if there's a common thread running through the six major campaigns, it's that public opinion polls are making big news and should be heeded. Eddie Knox, for example, is considered a front-runner, even by those who put little faith in polls. The former Charlotte mayor currently runs in first place, according to a Charlotte Observer poll released a month ago; he polled 24 percent to 17 percent for second-place Rufus Edmisten, the state's attorney general. In a Carolina Poll released March 14, Knox and Edmisten each were favored by 20 percent of the 587 N.C. Democrats surveyed who said they 1 Campaign '84 Political Polls planned to vote in the May 8 primary. And a recent poll commissioned by another leader in the race, Lauch Faircloth, put the former state commerce secretary in a virtual tie with Knox, while Edmisten trailed in third place. Besides ranking the contenders, what do the polls really mean? For one, they appear to be dividing the six front-runners into two tiers. The upper tier con sists of Knox, Edmisten and Faircloth the can didates who have been preferred by more North Carolinians in the public opinion surveys. In the lower tier are Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green, Insurance Commissioner John Ingram and former state Rep. Tom Gilmore. Of course, this doesn't mean that the second tier candidates can count themselves out of the race at this point. They're running as hard as ever, and at ieaM Green has made Mjme strides in picking up support from voters who previously were undecided. Ingram, who runs fifth, has a history of outsmarting the pollsters who say he doesn't have a chance. And though Gilmore is rated in the lower tier, his campaign staff is confi dent he can close the gap before the primary. His own pollster puts him in fourth place ahead of In gram and Green, with Knox in the lead. The current run of public opinion polls also points to an important concept image. Few un committed voters are likely to support an also-ran who brings up the rear in the polls, and that makes it tougher for the second-tier candidates to gain on the front-runners. If the candidate's im age is such that he's always shown at the top bt the polls, the momentum he gets from it may be enough to dispense with the candidates who con sistently lag. Whatever the polls may say about the contest for the May 8 primary, two certainties exist. First, no single candidate will win a majority in the primary, resulting in a primary runoff between the two top finishers. Second, the eventual Democratic winner will face a tough battle against the likely Republican nominee, Jim Martin. tally ill demonstrates courage against those in terests who want to intrude on the lives of the state's citizens. A veteran of the back rooms of the General Assembly where he has served as speaker of the House, and for the last eight years as Lieutenant Governor for a political career span ning 29 years, Green's legislative and stump supporters find the lit tle man with the ever present trademark cigarette in his mouth, the slightly rumpled suit and the grandfatherly manner worth their loyalty. Whatever county it rolls into, Green's borrowed campaign van can expect to be met by the faithful. a grass-roots, low-budget campaign similar to his gubernatorial campaign with expenditures under $250,000. Helms spent $7 million and won with 54 percent of the vote, but Ingram still got 46 percent of the vote. In line with the populist image, Ingram has made an elected utilities commission the clarion call to rally his followers. According to Ingram, the commission currently appointed by the gover nor is in the pockets of the state's utilities, which are squeezing the state's citizens with higher elec tric rates. members to understand the job market in 1997, the year students will graduate from high school who enter the state's education system under the next administration. Jim Martin Eddie Knox John Ingram Jimmy Green He's had father close to death, Faircloth dropped out of High Point College his freshman year and took over the family farm, converting from cotton to cucumbers and launching a successful business career. He now owns a concrete company, a car "Have you ever taken a bribe?" the stern voice asks Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green in a radio ad de signed to minimize the political damage created by the bribery charges he was acquitted of in a 10-day trial last fall. "Absolutely not," Green's raspy voice answers. Others are not so sure about Green's impli cation that Attorney General Rufus Edmisten was somehow the mastermind of a plot to destroy his gubernatorial bid, and think that the fallout from the trial will bring his political career to an end. Green has played on the emotional aspect of the case and tells supporters his ability to weather the trial and continue to fight for what he believes in vocational education, repeal of the manu facturer's inventory tax and intangible tax, job credit and tax credits to encourage industry to go into rural areas and helping the elderly and men- Insurance Commissioner John Ingram's cam paign buttons say he's "Fighting For You," but no one can tell who that is, or where they are. Some speculate that Ingram's support base looks weak in the oolls because his supporters live in the remote areas of North Carolina and don't own phones. Without phones, they can't be called for a poll. Ingram's loyal cadre of followers has Knox, Edmisten and Faircloth worried, and for good reason. Like a besieged king waiting for a far-away relative to turn the course of battle, In gram always looks miserable in the polls leading up to an elec tion. Just when it looks like it's over, In gram manages to pull out a strong showing. In 1978 in his Senate campaign against incum bent Republican Jesse Helms, Ingram conducted Eddie Knox has come a long way since a ban ner welcoming him to Sanford at the start of his campaign hung across Main Street, reading, "Welcome Eddie Knotts." Regardless of what poll you look at, or if you believe any of them, most North Carolinians now know who Eddie Knox is though his radio and television ads don't go into great detail on his mayoral terms in Charlotte, a taboo word here in the East. Knox knows that the last governor of North Carolina elected from Charlotte was the late Cameron Morrison in 1920. Some political ex perts attribute Knox's success to the likeness he bears to the policies of the man he replac ed as student body president during his college days at N.C. State University, Gov. Jim Hunt. Both luv or 'positioning the state's industrial and education base to meet the needs of what Knox calls the "New Information Age" so the state's workers will benefit not only from the recruitment of microelectronics and other high tech industries to the state, but also from the in creased computerization of textiles and other traditional industries' machinery. Knox proposes training educators, PTA members, administrators, and school board To audiences across the state, Jim Martin is just a "mild-mannered chemistry professor" run ning for governor, the holder of a doctorate in organic chemistry from Princeton University and teacher for 12 years at Davidson College. "And a bad one too," he quips. But when it comes to political office, Martin is as tough as they come and successful. In 1976, Martin and then Republican Gov. James Holshouser, both sup porters of incumbent presidential candidate Gerald Ford, were kept off the state's strong Reagan delega tion by what some saw as a ruthless underground cam paign by the National Congressional Club and its chairman, Tom Ellis. Now, eight years later, Martin's can didacy has not only brought about a resurgence of the moderate wing of Party-oriented Republicans, but has also encompassed the Con gressional Gub wing. While careful not to offend Ellis, who wort't endorse Martin because of some of his moderate campaign advisers, Sen. Jesse Helms has endorsed the 12-year Charlotte area Congressman. Martin, a native of Savannah, Ga., faces some historical obstacles in his bid to become only the second Republican governor elected, this century. In terms of voter registration, Democrats hold a 3-1 edge over Republicans in North Carolina. But Martin has garnered Democratic votes in amass ing a nine-campaign winning streak. Compiled and written by Political Editor Wayne Thompson and State and National Editor Kyle Marshall.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 25, 1984, edition 1
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