From: FrntPage@aol.com Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 10:55:10 -0400 Subject: HRC Launches Anti-Helms Campaign in NC NEWS STORY ON HRC CAMPAIGN IN NORTH CAROLINA AND Q&A INTERVIEW WITH ELIZABETH BIRCH, HRC EXEC DIR. By Jim Duley Editor, The Front Page newspaper P.O. Box 27928 Raleigh NC 27611 (919) 829-0181 (w) (919) 782-4564 (h) Email: JamesRalNC@aol.com HRC Launches NC Campaign 96 The Country's Largest Gay/Lesbian Group Plans to Spend $220,000 on Independent Expenditure Campaign Against Helms By Jim Duley 600 words Calling Jesse Helms "an embarassment to North Carolina," local and national leaders from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) have launched a $220,000 persuasion and get-out-the-vote campaign targeting the state's undecided -- or "swing" voters -- whom they believe can be convinced to vote against Sen. Helms on November 5. "North Carolina Campaign 96" was officially launched August 6 at receptions in Durham and Greensboro, featuring HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch and other staff members from Washington, DC and North Carolina. The campaign relies on phone banking and direct mail strategies which have been used successfully by HRC and other groups in efforts to defeat anti-gay ballot initiatives in Maine and Oregon. The effort represents HRC's largest investment in any congressional race, and has been fully funded by the national organization. Nationwide, the group is making contributions to candidates in roughly 150 of the more than 460 congressional races now underway, although federal elections laws severely limit the size of any single donation to $5000 for each primary contest and and additional $5000 for the general election. NC Campaign 96's strategy relies on identifying North Carolina's swing voters based on demographic variables -- and on a telephone poll surveying thousands of registered voters on key issues, including gay and lesbian rights. The demographic variables used to identify the voter pool (which were not released to the press) were developed through national polls in previous campaigns. Based on responses to initial polling questions, voters are placed into one of several groups, and, for example, might be targeted for the campaignŐs direct mail get-out-the-vote drive, or for telephone calls aimed at persuading them to vote against Helms. HRC's strategy differs from traditional campaign techniques in that it almost completely ignores Harvey Gantt's base -- progressive Democrats -- who are the target of efforts by Gantt's campaign and other groups, including the NC Participatory Democracy Project and the environmental group Clean Up Congress. "The goal of the program is to provide a margin of victory," according to Mitch Foushee, Campaign Manager. In 1990, Helms' margin of victory was about 105,000 votes. Since that time, 675,000 new voters have been registered. "I think that North Carolina is ready for a change," says Birch . "You can have a representative that is attentive to fiscal concerns but much more good solid heart on social issues, and a clear understanding that what makes this country so great is the values of fairness and nondiscrimination. I think North Carolina is understanding this as well, that it can attend to its economic needs while still reflecting fairness." Phone banks have already been set up in Raleigh, Durham and Greensboro, and are expected to be operational in Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem and Wilmington within the next two weeks. Volunteers are continuously being trained, and they are making telephone calls most weekday evenings, and the group expects to keep the phones busy right up to 15 minutes before the polls close on election day, Foushee said. NC Campaign 96 has been helped by volunteers from other anti-Helms groups, including Mothers Against Jesse in Congress (MAJIC), a group founded by women who have lost their sons to AIDS. One thing NC Campaign 96 will _not_ be doing is working directly with Helms' opponent Harvey Gantt or his campaign staff. Federal elections laws prohibit independent expenditure campaigns such as this one from coordinating its efforts with Harvey Gantt's campaign -- or the campaigns of any other candidate. HRC is the nation's largest gay and lesbian organization, with about 2,000 members in North Carolina, according to Birch. Volunteers are needed in most North Carolina cities. Interested people are asked to contact Mitch Foushee or field director Mark Donahue at (919) 572-9863. "I'm Very Optimistic" INTERVIEW Human Rights Campaign's Executive Director Elizabeth Birch Says Time's Up for Helms -- and She Thinks HRC Will Help Bring Him Home By Jim Duley 2900 Words As the Human Rights Campaign kicked off its $220,000 independent expenditure campaign to defeat Jesse Helms -- the largest in its history -- HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch travelled to North Carolina to meet with staff and volunteers. HRC's "NC Campaign 96" plans to mobilize the swing voter, encouraging the six to 10 percent of voters in the so-called "grand middle" to mark their ballots for Democratic challenger Harvey Gantt, rather than Jesse Helms. Through phone banks and direct mail, the group believes that its strategy will work in tandem with other groups' appeal to the state's progressive base -- and will deliver Jesse Helms his first electoral defeat. Speaking to supporters at a lunchtime gathering in Durham, she promised this would be only her first of many visits between now and the election on Novermber 5. I caught up with Birch on the occasion of her first visit to HRC's newly opened offices, nestled among the corporate campuses Research Triangle Park., NC, where she took a few minutes to discuss the Helms race, HRC and her ideas about the future of the gay and lesbian movement: Jim Duley: The strategy that HRC is using in the North Carolina Campaign sounds very new. It's unique. How did it develop? Elizabeth Birch: Well what happened is that we did exit polling in the November 1994 election and you'll remember that Perot voters figured pretty substantially in that election. And we were very shocked by the results. As it turns out, swing voters -- or so-called Perot voters -- are very tolerant to gay and lesbian people and their issues. In fact, in some ways,. more supportive of equal rights for gay Americans than even Democrats on some measures. That opened our eyes, and what we began to think about is that not just in this race, but in general, that we had ignored a very important component of the electorate, and that is swing voters. We're also aware that Americans in general have become pretty thoroughly disgusted with politics and both parties. And truth be known, most people ideologically are in the grand middle. They are not at the polar extremes of either party. Most Americans want solutions that work. The other thing that we know, in general, from all kinds of polling that's been done a variety of firms, is that Americans are very tired of wedge issues and hate and division. So, looking at the 1990 election in North Carolina, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that pretty much if the middle is not attended to, victory is not nearly as likely. In other words, there'll be lots of people working on the base, the traditional base, to support any opponent of Jesse Helms. But, what was critical was to have a strategy to address that 6 points in the middle and that's traditionally been the spread. JD: Have you tried this strategy in other electoral races or on other issues before? EB: Absolutely. We've used it in the state ballot initiatives. The anti-gay state ballot initiatives is where HRC really cut its teeth. HRC was always very, very good at the national level, in understanding federal electoral issues. But the first time that HRCF at that time ventured into the anti-gay ballot initiatives, it really was the kind of campaign expertise that HRCF brought that was instrumental to bringing about victory in those states. And we learned a great deal. We learned absolutely that a field operation is essential. What we've added to it was more of the science. The high-end campaign skills of how you slice and dice voters. How you do demographic clustering, how you do the right filters to get the right profile of people. JD: That's what HRC did in Oregon? EB: Yes. There we wanted to penetrate as far as we could into the middle and to the right but we were also attending to the base. Here we're being very strategic, and we are focused like a laser beam on the middle. JD: That's because other groups are attending to the base. How many other campaigns is HRC involved in this year? EB: We'll be in 150 races. JD: How did you choose the races that you are working in, because there are 460+ races going on nationally? EB: We analyzed without regard to party affiliation, voting records in the 103rd and 104th Congress and then we took a look at viability and we thoroughly analyzed the opposition. And then we looked at -- again without regard to party affiliation -- how we swing back seats that have been lost to people who really do not in their voting patterns and how they conduct themselves represent their constituents. They represent the very worst in this country in terms of using hate-filled messages and leading in a way that really divides the country. We want to get people into those chairs in Washington that are fair-minded and who understand the basic values of this country, which are really around non-discrimination, equality and that where there is a high likelihood that they will support our issues proactively, not just defensively, which is where we have been mostly. JD: It's the Jesse Helms race were you are spending the most money, however. EB: This campaign is the largest single expenditure we are making in the country in a state. JD: How did you decide that this was the most important race? EB: Jesse Helms costs us a fortune. We have been spending an enormous amount in terms of staff time and resources undoing the horrible things he does. When he grafts language onto the Ryan White CARE Act that could be interpreted at the local level as disallowing the delivery of services to gay Americans, that language has to be purged, and it costs a great deal of money to run a really fine lobbying organization supported by all the research and polling that's necessary and so to us, from a business perspective, it is a highly intelligent investment of money. And Jesse Helms is not just toxic to North Carolina and an embarrassment; he is bad for the entire country. And in bill after bill after bill, you're not only his point of view, but what he puts into action, that has to be undone, and it takes a lot of effort. JD: In the 150 or so races you are doing, you are not doing 150 independent expenditures. In the other races you are making financial contributions to candidates. EB: Within the limits of the law. We are very attentive to following all the FEC rules. JD: In the 1990 race you made contributions to Harvey Gantt. EB: Yes. JD: What does Helms know about what you are doing here? What does he think about it, and does he care? EB: I don't know that he's aware of it, but we also know that we are running a fairly quiet campaign. This campaign is being run by North Carolinians for North Carolinians. It will be 1,000 citizens of North Carolina who will end up being the people that deliver the victory and use this strategy. The Human Rights Campaign uses all local leadership. So it's Michael Armentrout, and others like him; Mitch [Foushee] who is the campaign manager grew up in North Carolina. We will be accused of being this big outside organization that's coming into the state. Not at all. We have about 2,000 members in North Carolina and we will be using lots of coalition relationships and build a whole network of 1,000 people. JD: To some North Carolinians, HRC has been seen as this group hat came into town at this dinner, took money from rich gay North Carolinians and then left and went back to DC to spend it. But this time, you are actually investing more money here you take in from the state. Do you think will change the average gay North Carolinian's perception of HRC and is that a goal? EB: I hope it will. What I have tried to make clear is that even when the Human Rights Campaign does an event in any area, any city or state, people who attend that event are making a direct investment in defending our lives. Every other constituency group has its army in Washington to protect and defend. I think that the key mistake that the Human Rights Campaign Fund was to have black tie dinners as the way that it communicated with the community and that ended up feeling very exclusive and closed and inaccessible so we've added 200 community events this year all around the country and we are working very hard to make it all more accessible,. We've doubled our membership in a year and half our new members are women. Everything we are doing is trying to be in the soil of North Carolina. People view us differently in places like Idaho and Oregon and Maine because we were on the ground helping to avert a legal disaster -- the making of a law that would be very harmful to gay citizens of those states. So I'm hoping that as we work shoulder to shoulder with people in North Carolina that they will have a whole new view of the Human Rights Campaign. JD: What kind of impression have you had of the community here? EB: I just love them. When you look at a sea of faces of people in a room and they are really magnificent and shining, and you meet the MAJIC [Mothers Against Jesse in Congress, a group formed by women who have lost their sons to AIDS] mothers, and you meet the great people of North Carolina, it is so unfair that this man is the representative up in Washington being the face of North Carolina. I look forward to the day when there is much more accurate representation of the people here. JD: How optimistic are you that Jesse Helms will be defeated? EB: I'm very optimistic. I think the world has changed dramatically. 675,000 new voters have come into the state and I think that North Carolina is ready for a change. Again, I think that most Americans are recognizing that they are in the middle. There are not these strict party labels. You can have a representative that is attentive to fiscal concerns but much more good solid heart on social issues, and a clear understanding that what makes this country so great is the values of fairness and nondiscrimination. I think North Carolina is understanding this as well, that it can attend to its economic needs while still reflecting fairness. JD: Are there other key races that you are looking at in other states? EB: Yeah, Sen. Harkins, Sen. Wellstone, Sen. Levin. The Senate ends up being a very important body. You are much more able to have rational thought occur and results occur in the Senate of the United States, so we need to hold on to Senators that have been with us. JD: Tell me about the Youth College and what your plans are with it. I understand that some of the young people you are training are going to be coming here as part of this campaign. EB: It's really exciting. And North Carolina is getting the lion's share of that talent. This is an idea that I had. I came into the Human Right Campaign and felt passionately that every other constituency group in this country invests heavily in the young people coming up behind them. But because of the gross and cruel stereotypes about gay Americans, in general gay organizations have shied away from providing opportunities to gay and lesbian youth. I said, "No more." We are going to invest in our young people. We are going to give them opportunities that we didn't have. We are going to give them the best. We are bringing the very best trainers available in the country to Chicago from Washington and they'll be taught very high end campaign skills. Six of the 26 young people will be placed right here in North Carolina to work on this independent expenditure campaign to help get rid of Jesse. JD: In recent weeks there have been a rumbling among some members of the gay and lesbian press regarding outing. Jim Kolbe of Arizona recently came out when he heard he was to be outed. What do you think of outing as a strategy in dealing with Members of Congress who vote against us on our issues? EB: What the Human Rights Campaign does is work behind the scenes very aggressively to try to convince these representatives to come out. We as an organization do not use outing as a strategy and never have. We don't think that it's healthy for the following reasons: Developmentally if someone is not ready to come out, they can actually do more damage than good. They haven't embraced the wholeness, the goodness, or their lives. We want people to be able to be honest and open and proud, not feel coerced and beat up and hurt. Nevertheless there is a debate which is really raging in the journalistic community which is healthy. We are aware of the debate, it's going on, but as an organization we don't use outing. Having said that, we feel that the correct way to judge a representative is frankly on their voting record. So it doesn't much matter to us -- it matters to us because we want gay people to come out and be out and proud and so on -- but we judge them on their conduct and their voting behavior., For example on the DOMA vote, the one that precipitated Kolbe coming out, everyone has to live with that, our friends, our foes. They've all got to learn that while we understand the politics of this election year, they better understand our politics. And that this issue was really picked as an election year tool to hurt and bludgeon gay people, keep them from the polls - which was the strategy -- and we have to hold them accountable. Coming out is a very intimate vulnerable process and it's best left to the closeted person. JD: Considering the "Defense of Marriage Act," I'm left wondering if we would have raised the issue of same-sex marriage if we had been thinking strategically as a community. I wonder what issues _should_ we be raising in the next four years. EB: It's clear as day, what is absolutely doable and at hand and achievable and what is going to take longer. Marriage is a very sacred issue to our community, but it is a long term journey. We did the polling and research a year ago and briefed all the other national organizations that not only was only 30% of the population in favor of this in some form, but that it could be used as a very mean spirited election year ploy, and it came to pass. So, at least we're getting better at our predictive instruments. It is clear as day that employment in the issue. There is an incredible movement going on in the corporate world, where about half of the Fortune 500 now have instituted non-discrimination policies and there is just widespread support among the American public. The AP poll was 85% [in favor] in June. What we have to do is make sure that the grassroots constituency base operation is in place to augment the great lobbying effort that can occur in Washington. We can absolutely pass ENDA. After that you do public accommodation, housing. We should in parallel be seeking any and all practical day-to-day benefits we can: hospital visitation and any type of real monetary benefit, things that help gay families. Increasingly we have children in our families and there are a lot of family issues for gay people. So to the extent that we can fashion benefits packages that can be delivered into gay lives _and_ be working long-term on having marriage recognized for gay Americans. So I think that's the sequencing of how this will occur, and _should_ occur strategically. I think sometimes we get ahead of ourselves a little bit. JD: What is it like being the leader of the country's largest gay and lesbian organization? You are increasingly visible in the media. What is it like to be seen by the average American as "that lesbian up in Washington" doing all this work to stir up the status quo? EB: Well I think it's always helpful for an organizations health and growth to have an identified head of the organization. But I've got to tell you that I am the only Executive Director that I know of that I day after I arrived figured out how to get Candice Gingrich, Chastity Bono, Sean Sasser, Greg Louganis, Mitchell Anderson, Dan Butler, Amanda Bearse. I have been an Executive Director who has really sought out other voices. If you look at the voices, they are selected very carefully. We try to pick people who are heroes in gay people's lives. Not everyone can hear the same person. When the same message is said by Mitchell Anderson or Candace Gingrich, the gay person can really relate to them, the message really resonates in their hearts. So, I've really worked hard to make sure that HRC has a multiplicity of voices. JD: What do you think all this means for the future of the country and the gay and lesbian community? EB: This country has been transformed by gay people, in particular, gay people coming out. There is _so_ much hope.