Jesse Helms is dead. And a new phase of the examination of his rise and career has begun. So far, he has been treated quite kindly, lauded even, for his long run in power. Curiously, though, he’s often referred to as the last of his kind. The Washington Post’s David Broder noted this in a column when Helms retired and it’s a theme many pundits echoed recently upon his death. Not sure what country they’re studying to reach that conclusion, but Helms was hardly the last of his kind. In fact, he was a pioneer in the type of political discourse that now passes for intelligent conversation in mainstream electronic and print media.
Helms proved that the stereotype, the caricature, the straw man and plain old mean-spiritedness are an effective form of television. He rode that into office, where he honed and perfected the craft. When you see a news show panel of clever people using over-the-top witticisms and thinly veiled — okay, naked — argumentum ad odium to flay an opponent or idea, you are watching the handiwork of Helms & Co.
Witness the fact that the famed creator of Helm’s 1990 White Hands ad, the man who also helped make Willie Horton the centerpiece of the 1988 presidential campaign, is a regular panelist on FOX and CNN and is an often-quoted “expert†in major publications.
And voter suppression? Why, Karl Rove was just a babe in the woods when Helms operatives were busy sending out postcards with ominous warnings to 125,000 black voters.
We’re not inclined to dance on anyone’s grave. But let us know when we bury this man’s ideas, and we’ll be shaking it like there’s no tomorrow.