Lauch Faircloth, if I could get him.
Of course, persuading Lauch to help a Democrat these days would be about as hard as persuading Republican Sen. John McCain to run for vice president on the Democratic ticket. Friendship can take you a long way in politics, but only so far, at least when it comes to crossing party lines.
Faircloth himself was a Republican U.S. senator, and a part of the conservative wing of that party. And he remains loyal to that party. But, the truth is, he knows more about the ins and outs of Democratic elective politics than most Democrats.
Most people remember that Faircloth used to be a Democrat. There is nothing remarkable about that. Lots of older Republican politicians used to be Democrats back when Republicans found it almost impossible get elected to any office in North Carolina.
What most people don’t remember is that Faircloth was a part of the group of Democrats who were the progressive (or liberal) wing of the party. He knows as much about the history of North Carolina statewide politics in the 20th century as anybody, and it is all in his head.
He got his start in state politics working for the progressive/populist agriculture commissioner, Kerr Scott, in his successful 1948 campaign for governor.
Scott appointed Frank Graham to the U.S. Senate and asked Faircloth to help in Graham’s election campaign to hold on to that seat. Faircloth drove Graham all over the state. He remembers that Graham was one of the finest men he ever met, but not much of a practical politician.
History will remember the irony of one of North Carolina’s most conservative senators (Faircloth) driving across the state with its most liberal senator (Graham) campaigning together in that watershed election.
Faircloth continued as a part of the progressive group in the Democratic Party, developing a strong friendship with Terry Sanford and working hard for Sanford’s election as governor in 1960. With that group, he supported Richardson Preyer’s losing campaign for governor n 1964, Bob Scott’s winning campaign n 1968, Skipper Bowles’ losing effort in 1972, and Jim Hunt’s winning campaigns in 1976 and 1980.
How does Faircloth explain his long association with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party in light of his recent strong conservative approach to politics?
“I have always been conservative,” he says. “I was the conservative conscience of that group, and everybody knew it.”
In fact, in 1984, when Faircloth ran for governor in the Democratic Primary, he was identified as one of the conservative candidates. The problem for North Carolina Democratic candidates for statewide office, then as it is now, is to be conservative enough to get elected in the fall, but not too conservative to be rejected by your own party in the primary.
With Faircloth’s conservative credentials and his close personal connections with many in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, he had the magic formula to win the 1984 election, if he had won the primary. But in addition to the crowded field, the conservative lieutenant governor, Jimmy Green, split the conservative base that Faircloth needed.
The rest is history, as they say. But why would a Democrat want Faircloth’s help now? He understands the complicated dynamics of politics that go beyond ideology and party identification.
It comes out when he explains why Democratic Gov. Mike Easley presents such a challenge for the Republican nominee for governor this year.
For a Republican to win the governor’s race, Faircloth explains, he has still has to win the support of conservative Eastern North Carolina Democrats. The problem for Republicans is that most of those folks are comfortable with a Democrat like Easley.
Why is Easley so acceptable to voters who otherwise might support a Republican statewide candidate? As an Eastern North Carolinian native, a former district attorney with a well-earned tough-on-crime reputation, as a hunter, as a friend to business and farmers, Easley is the kind of Democrat who can hold many Eastern North Carolina voters who also voted for Lauch Faircloth or Jesse Helms. “
Lauch Faircloth could teach other Democrats something else they need to know to remain competitive in North Carolina. Progressive politics in North Carolina requires conservative partners. These are conservatives who see the benefits of good schools and active government participation in building the state’s economic bases — and who are not put off by candidates who are not in tune with their core conservative values.
Faircloth is not going to help a Democratic candidate again. But he is down there in Clinton waiting for some young historian to collect and record the treasure trove of experience and wisdom tucked away in his head.
D.G. Martin is the author of “Interstate Eateries,” a handbook of home cooking places near North Carolina’s interstate highways.
