Divisions within the North Carolina Republican Party over state and national issues
Hawke continues to focus on divisions within the North Carolina Republican Party and its evolution since the 1960s. Here, he focuses specifically on his own bid for party chair in 1987 and the opposition he faced from the Jesse Helms branch of the party. Hawke explains how his emphasis on organizing the state party at the grassroots level by focusing on state issues was at odds with the Helms organization, the Congressional Club, and its emphasis on national issues. His comments are revealing of complexities and dynamics within the party at the state level.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Jack Hawke, June 7, 1990. Interview C-0087. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- JACK HAWKE:
-
So that the Helms organization today is much different.
They're working very close with the state party. We had a
fight when I ran for chairman.
- JONATHAN HOUGHTON:
-
Right, they opposed you.
- JACK HAWKE:
-
Which was more philosophical in nature, I guess.
- JONATHAN HOUGHTON:
-
You think it was? What was the philosophical difference that led the Club
to oppose you?
- JACK HAWKE:
-
Well, I say philosophical. It was almost like the situation I had when I
was a college kid. I wasn't a 100% so, you know, I was
suspect.
- JONATHAN HOUGHTON:
-
What were the suspect areas that made you less pure or just
different?
- JACK HAWKE:
-
They tried to make it because I wanted to talk about building a
Republican Party and attracting candidates and doing a grassroots
organization and had been part of the Martin administration, so talk
about state issues. That that meant that I wasn't pure.
Fighting communism, on abortion, on prayer in school, on all those
things that were issues in those days. And the guy
they got to run against me was president of a bible college. In fact,
his Ph.D. was in public speaking. He was a tremendous speaker. They
thought they had the guy that could debate those issues and turn the
troops on in terms on the emotional issues and beat us that way. From
that reason I say it was philosophical. I think underlying it was their
concern of what was going to happen. They'd just gone through
the Broyhill primary.
- JONATHAN HOUGHTON:
-
Where they offered up Funderburke and he lost to Broyhill and then
Broyhill lost to Sanford. So a lot of blood.
- JACK HAWKE:
-
Yeah, I think their primary concern has always been U.S. Senate, U.S.
Congress.
- JONATHAN HOUGHTON:
-
Well, is that how they think they're going to turn the state
Republican, by focusing on national issues, where there's a
greater difference between Democrats and Republicans, than on state
issues. So they down play grassroot precinct level tasks, thinking that
it would bring the troops out of the woodwork by focusing on a bit more
traditional issues, is that it?
- JACK HAWKE:
-
Yeah, I think the Club truly believes that you motivate people to vote on
emotional issues and they don't believe in grassroots
organization. That's my observation. And they do it through
T.V. ads, and they've been very successful with it.
